History of Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania

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GENEALOGY
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HISTORY

OF

WESTMORELAND
COUNTY

PENNSYLVANIA

BY
JOHN N. BOUCHER

ILLUSTRATED

VOL. I.

NEW YORK CHICAGO

THE LEWIS PUBLISHING COMPANY

moG

PREFACE

1136270

The purpose of the first vohimc of this work is to present a history of
Westmoreland County from its first settlement down to the present time.
The publishers feel confident that the author, Mr. John X. Boucher, has not
only laid before the reader in a pleasing manner the salient facts of the long
and interesting story, but that he has included much of that purely anti(|uarian
lore which is to many the most instructive and delightful feature of local
history.

This volume covers a century and a half of the history of Westmoreland
County. Its settlement began properly in 1755, with the lamentable expedition
of the English army under General Etlward iSraddock, to capture Fort
Duquesne. The next step in developing this territory was the opening up of
a road directly across the county by General John Forbes' army in 1758, in
his more successful expedition against the French fort. Immediately follow-
ing these events came the early pioneers, and then began the great battle with
the wilderness which he must tame, and with a savage race which opposed
him at every step. For a third of a century the history of the county is
mainly made up by a strange mingling of tragedy and romance on the one
hand, and of the privations and exertions of the pioneer on the other.

Formed as the county of Westmoreland was before the Revolutionary
War, the story of its patriotism in that great struggle is and must ever remain
one of its brightest pages. Coming down through all these years, the author
has chronologically told of its formation, its first courts, the building of its
roads and turnpikes, its canals, railroads and public buildings. He has told
of its participation in the Whisky Insurrection and in five wars, and has
dwelt at length on its industries and its modern cities and towns. Inter-
spersed with these narrations are chapters devoted to the social customs,
manners, industries, homes and home life of the early settlers.

The reader who is interested in transportation may follow the subject by
complete descriptions of the pack-horse trains, the slow moving Conestoga
wagons, the romantic stage coach, and the canal boat, down to the present
complete system of railroads which has so greatly developed Westmoreland
that it has taken a first rank among the rural counties of the United States.
So likewise mav he trace the great industries from their most primitive stages
in the county to their present gigantic proportions. He may also learn of the
Bench and Bar, the Press and its editors, the Church and its ministry, the
Medical profession, and School history, for each in turn is treated exhaustively
from its beginning to the present day.

V PREI'A CE

This volume relates entirely to the history of the county and to its promi-
nent men of the past. Throughout the entire volume the reader will find
biographical sketches of men who contributed to the county's history in war,
and to its development in peace.

Mr. Boucher wishes us to state that he has been untrammeled in the prepa-
ration of the work, freely treating all subjects and men as he thought they
deserved. If he has given too great a prominence to any event, or has with-
held from some true hero an encomivmi justly due him, it is a mistake in the
judgment of the author, and is not due to any obligation to eulogize or cen-
sure any person or event treated in these pages.

In view of the foregoing, the publishers with great confidence submit this
History of Westmoreland County to her intelligent and public spirited people,
asking, in return, a careful consideration of the work.

THE PUBLISHERS.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER I.
The French and English Struggle for Supremacy. — Braddock's Expedition. — Forhes'
Expedition.— George Washington.— Pontiac's War.— Battle of Bushy Run.— Henry
Bouquet I

CHAPTER n.
The Grant to William Penn. — Disputed Boundaries. — Mason and Dixon's Line. — Indian
Purchases. — Military Permits. — Titles, etc 33

CHAPTER HI.
Formation of County. — First Courts. — Elections 42

CHAPTER IV.
Selection of a County Seat. — Old Hannastown. — Erection of a Jail. — Sentences of the
Court.— Slavery ^g

CHAPTER V.

The P.oundary hetvveen Virginia and Pennsylvania. — Dunmore's War 60

CHAPTER VI.

The Indians of Early Westmoreland 67

CHAPTER VII.
Early Indian Troubles. — Places of Refuge. — Forts. — Stockades, — Blockhouses. — Cabins. —

Indian Stories 79

CHAPTER VIII.

Scotch.— Irish.— Germans 116

CHAPTER IX.
The Beginning of the Revolution. — Early Movements towards Freedom. — Westmore-
land Patriots' Resolutions. — The Rattlesnake Flag 12.3

CHAPTER X.
Westmoreland in the Revolution 132

CHAPTER XI.
The Closing Years of the Revolution. — Indians. — Hard Times. — Lochry's and Craw-
ford's Ill-fated Expeditions 145

CHAPTER XII.
The Hannastown War. — Burning of the County Seat. — Destruction of Miller's Block-
house 171

CHAPTER XHI.
The Removal of the County Seat to Greensburg 186

CHAPTER XIV.
The Whisky Insurrection ,"*... 194

vi CONTENTS

CHAPTER XV.
Old Customs. — Crops. — Industries. — Clothes, — Wild Animals, etc 20[5

CHAPTER XVI.
Indian Trails .Across Westmoreland. — Braddock's Road. — Forbes' Road. — State Road.—
Felgar Road.— Post Road.— The Main Turnpike from Pittsburgh to the East... 234

CHAPTER XVII.
The Westmoreland Soldiers in the War of 1812 , 242

CHAPTER XVIII.
Taverns. — Turnpikes. — Wagons. — Stage Coaches '. 253

CHAPTER XIX.
Canals 265

CHAPTER XX.
Mexican War 271

CHAPTER XXI.
Railroads '. 279

CHAPTER XXII.
Church History 285

CHAPTER XXIII.
Bench and Bar 320

CHAPTER XXIV.
History of the Medical Profession 376

CHAPTER XXV.
Westmoreland Press 39S

CHAPTER XXVI.
Common Schools , 40S

CHAPTER XXVII.

The Civil War 426

CHAPTER XXVIII.
The Court Houses. — County Home 437

CHAPTER XXIX.

-Agriculture 442

CHAPTER XXX.

Iron 445

CHAPTER XXXI.
Coal 458

CHAPTER XXXII.
The Coke Industry 4<36

CONTENTS vii

CHAPTER XXXIII.
Manufacturing Industries 471

CHAPTER XXXIV.
The Spanisli-Amcrican War ^75

CHAPTER XXXV.
County Officers ^7g

CHAPTER XXXVI.
Greensburg 4S7

CHAPTER XXXVII.
Hemplield Township.— Jeannette, "the Glass City."— Mt. Pleasant Township 502

CHAPTER XXXVIII.
Nortli Huntingiliin Triwnship. — Irwin Borough 515

CHAPTER XXXIX.
RostravcT Township. — North Belle Vernon. — Monesien. — Fairlield Township. — Bolivar
Borough 519

CHAPTER XL.
Donegal Township. — Derry Township. — Livennore Borough. — Franklin Township. — ■
iMurryville. — Washington Township 534

CHAPTER XLI.
Unity Township. — Latrobe Borough. — New Alexandria 554

CHAPTER XLII.
Salem Township. — New Salem. — South Huntingdon Township. — West Newton. — East
Huntingdon Township. — Scottdale 561

CHAPTER XLIII.
Allegheny Township. — Vandergrift. — Vandergrift Heights. — Ligonier Township. — Ligon-
ier Borough 579

CHAPTER XLIV.
Sewickley Township. — Suterville. — Loyalhanna Township. — Burrell Township. —
Parnassus. — New Kensington. — Cook Township. — Bell Township. — Penn Town-
ship.— Manor. — Penn Borough. — St. Clair Township. — New Florence 598

CHAPTER XLV.
Miscellaneous. — New Court House. — The Evans Execution. — The Year of the Frost.—
Visit of Lafayette 615

CHAPTER XLVI.

Special Biographies. — Maj. Gen. Arthur St Clair. — William Findley. — ^Alexander

Johnston. — Willianr F. Johnston. — Josipli Alaikk-.— William Larimer, Jr.— Gen.

James Keenan.— John W. Geary.— Richard C. Drum— John Covode.— Dr. Alexander

M. Alilligan 624

CHAPTER I.

The French and English Struggle for Supremacy.— Braddock's Expedition. — Forbes Ex-
pedition.—George Washington.— Pontiac's War.— The Battle of Bushy Run.— Henry
Bouquet.

Both the French and the English were anxious to acquire and hold
dominion over Western Pennsylvania. In view of this scheme the French
had prior to 1752 erected and projected a line of fortifications reaching all
the way from their strongholds in Canada to the mouth of the Mississippi
river. They erected Presque Isle, on Lake Erie, near the present city of
Erie; Fort Le Boeuf (now Waterford) in Crawford county; Fort Venango,
where Franklin, Pennsylvania, is built; and one on French creek, in Ven-
ango county. They were about to erect Fort Duquesne, now Pittsburgh.

These apparently aggressive movements aroused the lethargic spirit
of the English in Virginia, who claimed the whole of this territory to Lake
Erie under their Royal Charter. Shortly before this the Ohio Land Com-
pany had been chartered by the governor at the request of the King. It
had a grant of five hundred thousand acres on the headwaters of the
Ohio river. The purpose of this company was to hold the territory for
Virginia, and to secure for her people the Indian trade of that region.
The Governor of Virginia, Robert Dinwiddie, was a member of the com-
[lany, and therefore, of course, lent an attentive ear to any story of en-
croachment on the part of the French. He promptly sent an agent with
authority both from himself and the company, to inquire of the com-
manders of these forts the reason for these hostile demonstrations. This
agent was then an unknown surveyor about twenty-one years old, of whom
the English afterward learned a great deal, for his name was George Wash-
ington. His journey is fraught with particular interest to the student of
Westmoreland history. Aside from being the beginning of his public life,
he was on this trip one of the first white men to cross the unbroken wilder-
ness now known as Westmoreland county. He came by the way of Will's
Creek, now Cumberland, Maryland, where Christopher Gist, as the agent
of the Ohio Company, had the previous year established a small settle-

2 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

ment. Thence he crossed the Allegheny Mountains, traveled down the
Monongahela River, crossing Westmoreland count)-, and on November 23,
1752, his report shows he reached the mouth of Turtle Creek. The young
surveyor had the eye of a soldier, and he learned a great deal about the
French forts and their requirements. At Venango he ascertained froiji
the French commander that it was the unconcealed design of the French

GEX, WASIIINGTUN AT AGE OF in.

to hold the territory by their line of forts against all comers, and that they
claimed it by right of discovery on the part of La Salle, the French explorer,
who nearly a century before had sailed down the Mississippi river and
laid claim for his country to all land drained by the Father of Waters and
its tributaries.

When the intrepid agent returned and made his report, the Ohio Com-

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAXD COUXTY

pany did not by any means abandon the field. They built a blockliouse at
Redstone, now Brownsville, Fayette county, (1753) and early in the
spring of 1754 proposed to erect a fort at the junction of the Monongahela
and Allegheny rivers, for, be it remembered, that in his report Wash-
ington had particularly recommended the importance of erecting a fort at
this place. Trent, Ward and Gist and other frontiersmen arrived at Red-
stone in February, and later arrivals swelled their number to about seventy-
five. In order to descend the river to its junction they began to con-
struct a redoubt, for they meant to at once build the fort advised by Wash-
ington. Before they had made much headway the noted French officer,
Contrecoeur, with an army of nearly a thousand French and Indians,
thoroughly armed, arrived from Fort Venango. Gist, Ward and Trent
and their little company were compelled to surrender. This was the first
step, the beginning of the French and Indian War, which for nine years
desolated our western border, and which in the end resulted so favorably
to the English — this war which so shaped the .destines of our colonies that
in a few years they surpassed in dominion and power the empire of Louis,
and compelled the representative of King George to surrender his sword
to Washington at Yorktown.

The French immediately built a fort at the point recommended by
Washington, and named it Fort Duquesne, in honor of ]\Iarqnis Duquesne,
the governor of Canada, then called New France. For its day, even, it
was not a strong fortification, and we doubt whether it could have long
withstood an attack of the English army. M. Dumas, its commander,
-said it was only fit to dishonor the officer who was intrusted with its de-
fence. But the French greatly added to its real strength by forming an
alliance with the Indians. This they accomplished in part by giving them
presents. Bright colored blankets and beads, so common in France, were
quite potent with the Indians, much more so than the plainer objects of
utility with which the English were supplied. Then, it must be remem-
bered, that the Indians affiliated much more readily with the French than
with the English. One great reason for this was that the English were
largely farmer colonists, who, of necessity, cut away the forests and spoiled
the hunting grounds of the Indians, while the French in America then dealt
largely in furs and skins, paying little attention to house building or agri-
culture. A French and Indian alliance was therefore most suitable to both
races, while an alliance between the English and the Indians would have
been equally detrimental to the interests of both.

But the Virginia authorities and the Ohio Company, still anxious about
the fort at the head o.f the Ohio, sent out two companies in 1754. These
were under the command of Colonel Fry and George Washington. They
were met at "Great Meadows," now in Fayette county, at dawn of day on
May 28, by the French and Indian army^ The little English army was so

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

successful that though Colonel Fry died . May 31, and left Washing-
ton in command, they were not otherwise severely crippled. Learn-
ing of great reinforcements at Fort Duquesne, Washington saw that it
would be impossible for him to secure the desired ground. He therefore
returned to his fort, called Fort Necessity, a most appropriate name, for
here they were attacked by fifteen hundred French and Indians. All day
long, in the dense shade of the forest, the battle raged. So ably defended
was the fort that the two companies were in the end allowed to march
homeward with their baggage and with the honors of war.

But these skirmishes helped to make more enmity between England and
France, if, indeed, they were not already deadly enemies. Three expedi-
tions were now organized in England for America; one, under General
Shirley, governor of Massachusetts, against Fort Niagara and Fort

Frontenac ; another, under General
(afterward Sir William) Johnson,
against Crown Point. The third,
which more deeply concerns us,
was under General Edward Brad-
dock, and the objective point was
the capture of Fort Duquesne.

There is perhaps no incident in
American history which is fraught
with so much interest to western
Pennsylvania people, if not to all
American readers, as Braddock's
campaign. So much has been writ-
ten about it that we would be par-
doned for passing it were it not so
closely connected with Westmore-
land county's early history. Its bear-
ing on humanity has given it a na-
tional, if not, indeed, a world-wide
interest. In this campaign Wash-
mgton for the first time came in contact with the trained English soldiers.
It was, furthermore, the first campaign of drilled troops and modern artil-
lery in the New World.

Braddock had by bravery and ability won very high honors in the
English army. He was sixty years old when he arrived in America, Jan-
uary 14, 1755. He sailed from Cork, Ireland, with two regiments of
Royal troops, each numbering about five hundred men. The Forty-fourth
was under Colonel Dunbar, and the Forty-eighth was under Sir Peter
Halket. They reached Virginia, disembarking at Alexandria on February
20th. Two months later, April 20, the army left Alexander for Fort Du-

GEN. EDWARD BRADDOCK.

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 5

quesne by way of Frederickstown, Winchester and Fort Cumberland. The
entire campaign was badly planned. The army had no adequate base of
supplies, and the country through' which it was to march could neither sup-
ply an army nor furnish transportation. The lack of transportation was
largely supplied by Benjamin Franklin, then postmaster-general, who in-
duced Pennsylvania farmers to turn out with their private teams and
wagons and transport the supplies and baggage of the army. Franklin
pledged his private fortune to repay them. This pledge he made good, and
it was many years before he was finally reimbursed. Otherwise than
this, Pennsylvania did very little for the expedition. She had but few
soldiers in Braddock's army, for they were nearly all with General Shirley
in the north.

Braddock appointed Washington an aide-de-camp. In addition to the
English troops he had with him about twelve hundred provincial troops,
mostly from New York and Maryland. Then he had about one hundred
and fifty backwoodsmen and Indians from Pennsylvania. The backwoods-
men were dressed like Indians, and fought after the Indian fashion. Brad-
dock took but little stock in the rough-coated backwoodsmen. Before he
reached western Pennsylvania they had nearly all left him, and he was
undoubtedly glad of it. He reviewed the army at Cumberland, where they
arrived May 10. He expressed great confidence and pride in the scarlet
coats, bright buttons, polished muskets, and, most of all, in the Red Cross
of St. George, and in the sound of the bugle which echoed through the
forest. Braddock was unable to divest. himself of the habits of luxury ac-
quired in a lifetime of warfare on the beaten battlefields of Europe. He
journeyed part of the way in a chariot, his bodyguard of light-horse gal-
loping on each side, and his stafif accompanied him with the drums beat-
ing the Grenadiers' March. He held a levee in his tent every morning
from ten to eleven o'clock. He forbade theft and drunkenness, which he
punished with great severity. He was, indeed, a martinet in discipline.
He spurned the backwoods tactics of the Virginia Rangers, and, with a con-
fidence born of conceit and bravery, said to Benjamin Franklin : "These
savages may indeed be formidable to an enemy of raw American militia,
but upon the King's regulars and disciplined soldiers. Sir, it is impossible
they should make any impression." The great philosopher smiled and
wished him well.

The reader must not forget that it was indeed a very difficult march.
The distance from Alexandria was about two hundred and eighty miles,
and much of this distance a road had to be cut through a dense forest and
across the Alleghenv mountains. The train with its wagons and supplies
was about four miles long. The slowness of the march could not be
understood in England. Horace Walpole, with his characteristic wit,
wrote that Braddock was "creeping westward towards Fort Duquesne

6 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

with a slowness which indicated that he was not in a hurry to be scalped."
When the army reached Little Meadows, at the foot of the western
slope of the Allegheny Mountains, Braddock held a council of war. In
this he advised with Washington, whom he called "Young Buckskin,"
because of his dress, and not entirely, at all events, in derision. Young
Buckskin's advice was followed, and the result was that the army was
divided. The heavy wagons and main supplies were left behind, and the
main army, a little more than half of the entire forces, with pack horses
and a few wagons carrying only necessary supplies, with a few pieces of
artillery and the ablest of the soldiers, the very flower of the English army,
was to push rapidly on toward the fort. This had been advised by Wash-
ington at Cumberland, but its importance was not then apparent to Brad-
dock. Twelve hundred well trained soldiers under Braddock himself thus
pushed on rapidly, while the remairmg stores, ammunition, heavy wagons,
etc., were left with Dunbar to follow by slower marches.

On June 30th Braddock's division crossed the Youghiogheny River,,
about one mile below the present town of Connellsville. After this the
crooked road they cut across Westmoreland county can be accounted for
only on the theory that they had entirely lost their bearings. It is true
that Washington had been twice over the way, and, more than any other,.
guided the expedition. Indeed, his special knowledge of the topography
of the country mainly induced Braddock to give him the appointment.
But, be it remembered, that at Little Meadows Washington was taken sick
with a fever, and much to his chagrin was compelled to remain in Dun-
bar's camp. Washington only joined the army again on the day before the
battle, and was therefore not with them when they were wildly wandering
across Westmoreland. After the crossing at Connellsville the direct route
was of course down the river and then down the Monongahela. But they
left the river at Connellsville and came across the country to Jacob's Creek,
in East Huntingdon township, Westmoreland county, crossing Jacob's
Creek about a mile from Mount Pleasant, the ford being later designated
as Tinsman's Mills. The route then crossed the present Mount Pleasant
and West Newton turnpike, below Mt. Pleasant, leaving that town on the
right. From there the route turned off more to the west and crossed the
Big Sewickley near Painter's salt works, between Painterville and Ruffs-
dale stations, on the South-West Pennsylvania Railroad. From there they
journeyed nearly north, leaving Greensburg, Irwin and Jacksonville on the
north, and finally reaching Brush Creek, a branch of Turtle Creek. About
this time, July 7th, the army seemed to doubt the correctness of its route.
They therefore turned to the south, passed down the Long Run valley and
reached Crooked Run about two miles from the Monongahela Ri^•er.
While they camped quietly at night their camp was watched by spies of

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. j

the enemy, as, indeed, their every movement had been more or less for
several days. The following morning, July 9th, they went down the val-
ley and forded the Monongahela River where McKeesport now stands.
The advance was led by Lieutenant-Colonel Gage. The army marched
between the bordering hills and the river, down the river about four miles,
where the river was again crossed. This crossing of the river seemed
necessary to avoid high hills and defiles, yet visible on the right bank
of the stream as one passes down from JMcKeesport to Braddock, the object
being to keep on high ground and thus avoid Indian attacks while
hemmed in by high hills. They were not expecting the enemy until they
reached the fort, yet the General maintained most rigid discipline. The
splendidly equipped army, with bright colors shining in the morning sun,
marching along the river bottom, the high wooded hills on their left and
the tranquil river on their right, was, said Washington long years after-
wards, one of the grandest sights he ever saw. About ten o'clock, accord-
ing to Washington, the rear of the army crossed the second crossing. They
were less than ten miles from the long looked for fort, and buoyant feelings
tilled every soldier's breast. The bank was high and had to be leveled so
that the heavier wagons and artillery in the rear could ascend, this caus-
ing an hour's delay. After the crossing the ground rose slowly to the
hills beyond, and deep ravines extended from these hills to the river. They
had crossed between two ravines, and these came together, or nearly so,
at the top of the hills,' and formed something like the letter V, with the
apex pointed away from the river. These ravines, the hills beyond and be-
tween, were covered with a thick growth of underbrush and large trees.
The rear of the army had scarcely emerged from the river before the fight
began. In the forest on both sides of the advancing army, and behind al-
most every rock, large tree or clump of bushes, was concealed the enemy,
watching every movement, and ready at the appointed time to make the
attack. Thomas Gage with his division, was in front. Both this and
another smaller division under Sir Peter Halket were between the ravines
forming the letter V. Suddenly, "seemingly from out the earth," came a
terrible roar of musketry and a fiendish Indian yell. No enemy could be
seen, and yet volley after volley was poured in the face of the leading army.
Almost instantly following came a similar leaden hail on their right front.
Braddock hurried forward, halted the advancing division, and sent Colonel
Burton forward with the vanguard to assist the front rank. About eight
hundred men were now in front, and about four hundred were left behind
to guard the baggage. The fire was returned by those in position, with
but little or no effect, for no enemy could be seen. Yet there was a mom-
ent's cessation of the firing on the part of tlie enemy after the first fire
from the English. The English soldiers could see nothing to fire at, yet

8 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

men were falling in every direction. Confusion and excitement was the
result, and the entire advance guard with its support fell back. When
the dauntless Braddock rushed forward to cheer them on, he was met by
bleeding and disordered ranks, fleeing from an invisible but most deadly
enemy. In less time than we can conceive, so terrible was the onslaught
and so complete the rout, that the pioneers, infantry, artillery and baggage,
were a tangled mass, with the enemy almost surrounding them, yet still
invisible. In the meantime the force left to guard the baggage was at-
tacked, and this was in the more open plain towards the river. IMany
wagoners were shot down, while others, seeing this, cut their horses from
their wagons, mounted them, and liurried back across the river in wild
confusion. The English soldiers who could do so, some of them, at
all events, did the same. The artillery was almost useless, for still no
enemy was in view, nor were they seen by the British and Americans till
the retreat began. The only open space, if it could be so called, was the
road cut by the advancing army, while almost every place of concealment
was previously occupied by the enemy. Every attempt to turn the tide of
afifairs, on the part of Braddock, who was a total stranger to fear, seemed
to result only in confusion. Mingled with the cries of anguish on the part
of the wounded were the shouts of the officers, the rattle of the musketry
and the roar of the cannon, while above all was the frenzied war whoop
and yell of the infuriated Indian. Survivors for long years afterwards
were not able to drive this horrible picture from their- memory.

The battle lasted nearly three hours, the British much of the time hud-
dled together like sheep, and even trampled under foot by dashing runaway
horses. It is not to be wondered at that in this stat" of affairs many were
killed by their own men. Captain Was'Sfoner, of Virginia, attempted to
secure a spot of rising ground where, partly concealed by a large fallen tree,
he hoped to mend the condition of the army, or perhaps change its for-
tunes. With about eighty Virginians who were accustomed to backwoods
warfare, he reached the objective point and for a brief space did splendid
work against a body of Indians concealed from the panic-stricken soldiers,
but in full view from his position. But very soon, in the whirl of con-
fusion, the British mistook the smoke of his guns for that of the enemy,
and made against him one of the most effective fires of the day on their
part. The little company soon fell back, leaving fifty of Captain Waggoner's
eighty soldiers dead and wounded on the ground.

When at length Braddock found it impossible to oppose the enemy far-
ther, he tried to have them retreat in good order, and even in this he suc-
ceeded but moderately. Many of them were so wild and bewildered that
they were firing in the air. By this time half of the army was killed or
wounded, with most of the best officers among the slain. General Brad-
dock had five horses shot under him and received his death wound.

- HISTORY OF IVESTMORELAXD COUNTY. 9

It will never be known whether he was shot by friend or foe. Quite likely
it was an accidental shot from one of his own soldiers. In a letter from
^\'ashington to Governor Dinwiddie, (See Sparks' "Letters of Washing-
tion." vol. 2, p. 88) he avers that two-thirds of the killed and wounded in
the battle received their shots from the cowardly and panic-stricken royal-
ists. Washington had several bullet holes in his clothes, two horses
wounded and one killed under him, but was unhurt.

Braddock was shot through the arm and lung. He was carried from
the field and transported to Dunbar's camp, thirty-si.x miles away, in a lit-
ter. The Indians even fired on the retreating army as they were crossing
the river, and some were thus killed in the water. All the dead and
wounded, with the baggage and cannon, were left on the field. The road
to Dunbar's camp was strewn with the abandoned accoutrements of war.
Indeed, the Indians only ceased the figfhting to hastily gather the rich har-
vest of scalps, and divide among themselves the baggage and provisions
of the English.

Washington, in describing the battle forty years afterward, has writ-
ten these words concerning Braddock: "At an encampment near Great
Meadows the brave but unfortunate General Braddock breathed his last.
He was interred with the honors of war, and it was left to me to see this
performed and to mark out the spot for the receotion of his remains. To
guard aeainst a savage triumph if the place should be discovered, they were
deposited in the road over which the army wagons passed, to hide every
trace by which the entombment could be discovered. Thus died a man
whose good and bad qualities were intimately blended. He was brave even
to a fault. His attachments were warm, his enmities were strong, and
there was no disguise about him." (See Scribner's Magazine, May, 1894).
Braddock died on Sunday night, July 13, four days after the battle. In
America, at least, his dauntless courage has gone far to recompense his
faults and redeem his fame ; still his memory will always be clouded by
disaster, and his name forever inseparably associated with defeat.

The most contemptible spirit in the army was certainly Colonel Dun-
bar. It will be remembered that nearly half of the entire army remained
with liim to follow Braddock by slower marches. When the remnant of
the advance army returned to him, though his army then numbered at least
fifteen hundred, he showed no desire to reform it and march again against
the enemy. A little fortitude on his part, a tithe of the Braddock bravery,
and he could have stormed the fort and taken the field. But, instead, he
and his soldiers, joined in the excitement of the hour, buried their heavy
artillery in the ground, destroyed what stores and ammunition they could
not transport, and hurriedly if not cowardly skulked away to Philadelphia.

The enemy so successful in this battle were sent out from Fort Duquesne,
and were composed of French Canadians and Indians under com-

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

mand of Captain Beaujeu. It was originally their intention to remain in
the fort and await the attack of the English, but Beaujeu insisted on the
surprise which resulted so successfully. His force was about six hun-
dred Indians and two hundred French and Canadians. It was his inten-
tion to attack the English as they crossed the river, but, having nine miles
to march, they arrived too late, and so made the attack on perhaps more
advantageous grounds, for the ground close to the river was partly cleared.
Beaujeu was killed with the first regular fire. His followers dropped back,
and there was a lull in the fighting which was noticed and remembered
even by the frightened English. Then the enemy contemplated a retreat.
Had the proper spirit been shown at the right time the field coidd have
been won by Braddock's forces. With that opportunity gone, the field
--. was lost. Dumas, a cool brave French-

man, took Beaujeu's place and won
the victcTv. The loss to the enemy
can onh' be known b)- their own re-
ports which have always been
doubted. They reported a loss of only
thirty, and most of these killed from
falling timbers cut ofif by wildly di-
rected cannon balls. The British lost
sixty-three out of eighty-six officers,
and one-half of the private, that is,,
nearly seven hundred killed and
wounded. Every mounted officer save
Washington was carried oi¥ the field.
It was at best a most terrible slaughter.
This victory was due mainly to the
Indians. Of these the Wyandots and
Ottawas, the latter it is supposed,
CAPT. BEAUJEU. Under Pontiac, a warrior who after-

wards became so conspicuous in Indian raids, outnumbered all the rest.
The impartial reader cannot but attribute this ignominious defeat almost
entirely to obstinacy on the part of General Braddock. He was long
schooled in warfare, and his vaunted courage led the Americans to look
up to him and to expect great things from him and his soldiers.
Yet, instead of setting an example of bravery to the undrilled American
troops, the English were the first to disobey orders, desert their comrades, and
flee from the field in cowardly disorder. They were commanded, too, by
brave and able men, many of whom lived in after years to show to the
world the highest order of military skill. Braddock's bravery has been
admitted by friend and foe alike ; indeed, it has become proverbial. Wash-

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. n,

ington, either in victon- or in defeat, was never aught but great, but he
was particularly strong in the emergency of saving a waning army froni'
destruction. Gage commanded the British army at Boston during the
siege at the commencement of the Revolutionary war. Then there was
Horatio Gates, who afterwards arose to distinction and was a major-gen-
eral in the American army in the Revolution. There too was ColoneL
Daniel Morgan, still renowned throughout America as the hero of Cowpens.
Then there were Lewises of Virginia, a name which will always be noted
in the war annals of America.

Hitherto the world had been taught that the Englishman was invincible-
in arms. Perhaps no people in all the world revered and honored the
English army as highly as did the American colonies. The defeat of
Braddock most thoroughly demonstrated the fallacy of this opinion..
Henceforth, in the mind of the average American colonist, the royal Eng-
lish soldier was measured by his actions on the banks of the Monongahela.
And, when we remember that in less than twenty years these same colonies-
had so changed their ideas of the superiority of the English army that they
were induced to engage in the Revolutionary war, we cannot doubt but
that in one sense, at least, the defeat of Braddock was a benefit to the
American people.

The defeat of Braddock was a sad blow to the settlers of western Penn-
sylvania. The Indians, spurred on by the temporary victory, became at
once more hostile than ever, and more determined that the English should
never obtain a foothold in this section. So far as it was possible our set-
tlers were at peace with the Indians, for they had adopted Penn's pacific
l)rinciples very largely in dealing with them. But when the French and
Indian war began, the entire frontier, being unprotected, was subjected to
the ravages of this brutal race. Many isolated settlers were driven back
to their eastern homes. They left their hard earned harvests ungathered ;.
they saw their log cabin homes in ashes, and their families murdered or
taken as prisoners to Canada. Nothing short of a line of forts along the
entire frontier could have protected these pioneers.

The most western English forts then were immediately west of the
Susquehanna, viz. : Fort Louther, at Carlisle ; Fort Franklin, at Shippens-
burg ; Fort Shirley, near the Juniata ; and Fort Littleton and Fort Loudon,
within the limits of the present Franklin county. These forts were very
poorly garrisoned, the provincial military being weak. There were how-
ever, a few blockhouses, and to these the settlers could flee in times of
Indian raids, and thus united could in some degree protect themselves.

From month to month these Indian depredations grew more and more
severe. Two chiefs, Shingass (or Shingast), and Captain Jacobs were
considered the instigators of these depredations. Each had a following:

12 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

of a large band of warriors, and their general habitation was in what is
now Westmoreland and Armstrong counties, with their principal town at
Kittanning.

On the death of Braddock, General Shirley was made commander-in-
chief of all the British forces in America. But General Montcalm, the
French commander, who afterwards died so heroically when opposing Gen-
eral James Wolfe at Quebec, was then invading northern New York, and
Shirley and his army were scarcely adequate to the defence of even that sec-
tion. This left the French and Indian marauders of Western Pennsylvania
but little opposition in 1755-56. In August of the latter year Colonel
John Armstrong, a militia officer of Pennsylvania, but a most daring one,
made preparation to surprise and if possible exterminate these tribes of
Indians. He took with him what was known as the Second Battalion,
which consisted of eight companies stationed on the west side of the
Susquehanna. He left Fort Shirley on August 30th, with about three
hundred men, and marched up the Juniata and stealthily down the Kis-
"kiminetas, marching a great deal by night. His objective point was the
Indian stronghold at Kittanning town. The last night he marched thirty
■miles, and reached the town before daylight. At break of day he began
the attack. Captain Jacobs discovered the presence of the soldiers and
gave out a few war cries to arouse the Indians, and then the fight began.
The squaws and children were sent to the woods, and not one of them was
fired on by Armstrong's men. The Indians kept in their houses, and killed
and wounded a good many soldiers in the early morning by firing through
the cracks and portholes. Against this the soldier's shots were almost
futile, and at considerable loss of life Armstrong ordered these houses
to be set on fire. In firing a hut Armstrong himself was severely wounded
in the shoulder. The fire spread rapidly to the entire collection of houses
and wigwams, and drove the Indians from their shelter. Just as they
emerged from the burning buildings they were shot down, the soldiers
being so placed that they commanded every retreat. Jacobs, the leader,
was reported killed, but Armstrong doubted it. The stronghold was
destroyed, and the Indian inhabitants were either killed or compelled to
flee from the community. It was a most effectual blow to them. The en-
tire secrecy of the march and the attack made it all the more so, for there-
after they were afraid to join in large numbers to commit depredations,
lest they might at any time be attacked and cut down as they were at
Kittanning. This has been known as Armstrong's Expedition. In its
immediate results and in its salutary effects upon the peace and good
order of our western border, it has justly been rated as one of the most
effectual expeditions of our pioneer history. The reader will probably
smile in this modern age of large armies, at three hundred men being called
the Second Battalion. It is, however, the language of the colonies at that

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. ij

time, and, with their limited capacity, it was doubtless a pretty large army
to them.

Still the French and Indian power over the British in America very
largely predominated. This state of affairs dissatisfied England. She
believed this deplorable situation was due to bad management on the part
of its home government. A change was demanded, and in June, 1757,
William Pitt, the Great Commoner, a name which should be revered by
every American, was made premier. From the beginning he favored the
colonies, and in return the colonies were loyal to him. Pennsylvania voted
a large sum of money to their defense, and showed many other signs of
loyalty.

In the early part of 1758 Admiral Boscawan reached America with
twelve thousand soldiers. Very soon the colonists began to enlist, and
these, with the British soldiers here, swelled the number to more than.
fifty thousand men, all in the service of the colonies. Again three distinct
e.xpeditions were projected, viz.: against Louisburg, in the St. Lawrence;
against Ticonderoga, in northern New York ; and against Fort Duquesne.
The latter expedition is, of course, the one of special interest to us in West-
moreland. It was under the command of a Scotchman, Brigadier General
John P^orbes. He started from Philadelphia. The first question which pre-
sented itself to him was as to the route he should take. The Pennsylvanians
wanted him to go directly through the province, presumably to open
up a new road and new territory. But Virginia had the same claim, and
she, too, was furnishing many munitions of war. The old road was of
course Braddock's route by the way of Cumberland, and the proposed new
one was by way of Bedford. So much had been said about the slowness of
Braddock's march that his defenders had probably magnified its difficul-
ties. Washington favored the Braddock route, which, in the light of after
discoveries, was undoubtedly the better one to take. Colonel Henry Bou-
quet, second commander to F"orbes, seems to have decided the matter in
favor of the new route. It was fifty miles shorter than the other, and
was taken with the further hope of avoiding the difficulties which retarded
Braddock's westward march.

Forbes' army was nearly three times as large as Braddock's had been,
which means that he had about seven thousand men with him. There
were twenty-seven hundred Pennsylvanians, si.xteen hundred Virginians,
twelve hundred Highlanders who came with Forbes from England, three
hundred and fifty regular soldiers called Royal Americans, and one thous-
and from Delaware, Maryland and North Carolina. There were also
about one thousand wagoners, axe men, &c., which, if counted would
swell his army to nearly eight thousand.

The Virginia, North Carolina and Maryland troops were brought to-
gether at Winchester and placed in command of Colonel George Wash-

54 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

ino-ton. The Pennsylvania forces were assembled at Raystown (Bedford),
Pennsylvania, under Bouquet. Forbes was long detained in Philadelphia
by sickness and various arrangements incident to a military campaign. He
did not reach Bedford until September, by which time Colonel James
Burd, by direction of Colonel Bouquet, had, with twenty-five hundred
■soldiers and axe men, cut a road across the Allegheny Mountains and across
Laurel Hill, a distance of fifty miles, and had encamped on the banks of
the Lovalhanna, in Ligonier valley. Here he awaited the main army,
and in the meantime by order of Bouquet, an expedition was sent out un-
der Major Grant to learn something of the strength of the enemy. This
expedition was composed of thirty-seven officers and eight hundred and
thirteen privates. Grant was supported by Major Lewis, of Virginia,
'Captain Bullet and others. He was instructed by the wary Bouquet not to
bring on a battle but to approach as near to the fort as safety would permit,
and to collect all possible information concerning the enemy. The com-
mand left Lovalhanna camp on September nth. They made very rapid
-marches, for they were but slightly encumbered with baggage. The first
-day's march they passed over or through Chestnut Ridge. The route they
took is not definitely known, but they most likely passed down the gap
cut by the Lovalhanna. Doubtless the path which they took did not vary
much otherwise from the route which Forbes afterwards took. Passing
over the southeastern part of Derry township he crossed the Loyalhanna
about half a mile below the Shelving Rocks. For the night they camped
near the mouth of the Nine Mile Run, so named from its flowing into the
Lovalhanna, about nine miles from the encampment they had left, now
Ligonier. It is a plateau, then covered with heavy timber. On the east
was the run, with a steep bank twenty feet high which formed a natural
fortification. He threw up earthworks facing the west and north. They
are all gone now, but are remembered by the oldest citizens, and the place
is even yet known as Breastworks Hill. The second day he marched twen-
'ty-five miles westward, and was then within less than fifteen miles of the
famous Fort Duquesne.

The Indians and French in the fort had spies out, mainly Indians, who
kept a close watch on the main army, but they undoubtedly overlooked
'Grant, who passed under the very shadow of the fort without being seen.
About two miles east of the fort he left his horses and baggage under
-Captain Bullet, with about fifty men. About nine o'clock at night two
■officers with a company of fifty men crept up to the fort and found not
■even a single picket. They set fire to a store house, but, this being dis-
covered by the inmates of the fort, was extinguished, they regarding the
fire as an accident. A heavy fog hung over the entire community and in
part prevented Grant from correctly ascertaining the situation. The fol-
lowing morning, misled by these appearances, he became overly anxious

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 15

to win the great honor of taking the fortress over which two mighty
nations had been for years contending. He overstepped and even disobeyed
his orders. He sent Alajor Lewis with two hundred men back along
the road a short distance so that he might claim the victory entirely for him-
self, it is said. His main army he posted on a low ridge and sent about fifty
men to beat drums and play the Scotch bagpipes, hoping thus to draw the
enemy from the fort. So stealthy had been his movements that the music
aroused the P'rench from their morning sleep. Unfortunately for Grant
they knew the country better than he. The fort, it will be remembered,
was near the point made by the junction of the Allegheny and Mononga-
hela rivers, where they unite to form the Ohio.

Shrewd indeed was the maneuver on the part of the commander of the
fort, who sent about one-third of the forces quietly and quickly up the
bank of the Allegheny, and one-third with similar orders up the IMononga-
hela River, while the others remained in the fort until the first and second
deploys had passed up their respective rivers far enough to be pracH-r
on the rear of Grant and his army. When these positions were secured, the
soldiers in the fort marched boldly forth toward Grant, while each of the
other divisions moved in on the right and left rear of his band. In a few
minutes they had practically surrounded his entire advance forces. From
all sides came the attack. The Indians filled the woods with war whoops,_
and sprang on his men with tomahawks and scalping knives. Lewis heard
the firing and hastened, perhaps by order of Grant, to his relief. But
Grant had fallen back from his original position, and Lewis missed him.
Both were captured by the French. There was really little left for the
army to do but retreat, if, indeed, that was not entirely cut ofi. Just
when the rout promised to rival Braddock's defeat three years before, a
relief came from an unlooked-for source. Captain Bullet, stationed in the
rear with horses, baggage, etc., heard the sound of battle and hurried to
the rescue. Knowing that his fifty men amounted to notliing in the face
of the enemy, he secured them in bushes and behind rocks, and by firing
gave such effective opposition to the enemy that they imagined a much
larger force had appeared, and to a great extent ceased firing. Then
he resorted to a stratagem. He and his men marched boldly up to the
enemy with arms reversed as if they meant to surrender. The Indians,
being, pastmasters in the art of treachery, with undoubted sinister designs
on their part, fell into the trap. When within a few yards of the Indians,
as Bullet commanded, a death-dealing volley was thrown in their faces,
and immediately the little command charged with bayonets. The Indians
never withstood a bayonet charge, and by this means were thoroughly
routed. It was learned afterward that the audacity of the onslaught con-
vinced the Indians that a much larger force was near by in waiting. Mean-

i6 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

while Grant's army rapidly retreated and made the best of its way back
to Loyalhanna camp, with a loss of two hundred seventy-three men. The
loss was mostly among the Highlanders, who fought only in the open,
as they were taught. This battle occurred on the hill where Allegheny
county court house now stands, and the street traversing the hill or
ridge (Grant street) was named after the unsuccessful commander of
the battle. The fort, as was afterwards learned, had been the day be-
fore reinforced by four hundred men under Captain Aubrey, who planned
the attack on Grant. Grant and Lewis were held as prisoners a short time
and then exchanged. Grant was a man of ability, too, though he did
not display it on this occasion. His stolen march was overlooked by the
spies only because of its utter improbability and foolhardiness. Two
years later he was made governor of Florida. He afterwards won high
rank in the English army and fought part of the time in the Revolution,
viz.: in the battles of Germantown and Monmouth Court House. He com-
manded at the latter, and defeated General Lee. Still later he was a mem-
ber of the British Parliament, and died in 1806, aged eighty-si.x.

This battle occurred September 14, 1758, and the forces traveled there-
fore from Loyalhanna to Fort Duquesne in three days. They reached
the camp on the 17th and bore the sad news to Bouquet. He was not by
any means discouraged, but set to work to strengthen his camp till Forbes
and his army should arrive. Flushed by this victory over Grant, Bouquet
had little doubt that the enemy would soon storm his gates. And so it
was, for on October 12 the enemy was arrayed in battle around the camp
at Loyalhanna. There came about twelve hundred French soldiers, but
only about two hundred Indians. The smallness in the number of the
latter was due to the fact that many of them had deserted the French
and gone to their homes to lay in a stock of venison before cold weather
came, so that their families might not perish during the winter. James
Smith, who was then a prisoner in Fort Duquesne and of whom much
more shall be said later on, made this and many other disclosures on his
release. He also said that a close watch was kept on Forbes' army dur-
ing all its journey, and that they hoped to surprise and defeat it as they
had done in Braddock's case.

The French and Indian army at Loyalhanna was under command of
De Vitri. He began battle almost immediately on their arrival. The
firing began about eleven o'clock in the forenoon and lasted four hours
The battle was fought on or near the ground where is now the town of Ligo-
nier. The army at Ligonier numbered twenty-five hundred on its first ar-
rival from Bedford; but nearly three hundred were lost in Grant's fiasco
leaving only about twenty-two hundred. But it is probable that some ad-
vance companies from Forbes' army at Bedford had by October 12, reached
Ligonier, though there is no record of it that the writer can find. Bouquet

HISTORY Or WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

17

was not present at the battle, but was stuck in the mud at Stony Creek, now
in Somerset county, near the present town of Stoystown. Colonel James
Burd commanded the forces in Bouquet's absence.

The enemy during the battle was probably on lower ground than Burd's
troops, though the location is not clearly outlined in the reports. It is
known, however, that Burd was on the ground preparing for the coming
of the enemy, and that he was easily wary enough to entrench his army on
high ground and allow the enemy to attack him. He was also preparing
to erect or was already erecting a fort, and it is likely that the army was
encamped near the site selected for its location. The enemy coming from
Fort Duquesne came, of course, from the west, but as they approached the
camp at Ligonier they veered their course so as to approach from the
southwest and gave battle at once on their arrival. They undoubtedly ap-
proached from this direction rather than from the west, to more thoroughly
surprise the camp. The French made but little impression on the army
during the four hours" fighting in the afternoon. They renewed the attack
after nightfall, but Colonel Burd stormed the woods in which the French
and Indians were concealed, with shells from the mortars, and they were
soon glad to retreat. That Burd and his army did not follow them up and
capture them is evidence that they were well satisfied to allow them to re-
treat, let Forbes' army with its provisions had not arrived, and the
commissary may have been too weak to support a captured army. The
loss in the army of Ligonier was twelve killed and fifty-five wounded. The
loss in the French army is not known, and the small loss to the British is
perhaps why the accounts of the battle are so meagre. A letter written
by Captain Burd to his wife, the original of which is now in the possession '
of the Historical Society at Philadelphia, may be of interest here. It is as
follows :

Camp at Loyalhanna, 14 October. 1758.
My Dear Love :—

I have just time to acquaint you that the French army, consisting of 1200 French
and 200 Indians commanded by Monsr. De Vitri attacked me on Thursday, the 12th, at
II A. M. with great fury until 3 P. M., at which time I had the pleasure to see victory
to the British Army I had the honor to command. The enemy attempted on the night
of the I2th to attack me a second time, but in return for their most unmelodious Indian
music, I gave them a number of shells from our mortars which made them retreat soon.
Our loss on this occasion is only 63 men and officers, killed, wounded and missing. We
have only buried of our dead and six of the enemies. The French were em-
ployed all night carrying ofT their dead and wounded, and I am apt to think carried oflf
our dead through mistake.

I received your last letter wherein you hoped I might obtain my wish to our taking
Duquesne. We shall try it soon.

I am hearty, and with great regard my dear Sail your ever and affectionate husband,
I am, James Burd.

i8 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

Forbes' army liad mostly arrived at Loyalhanna by November ist, and
Forbes, himself arrived November 6th. In the meantime Burd, Bouquet
and Washington began to build a fort, or place of deposit, for on every hand
were the signs of winter. Laurel ^Mountain and Chestnut Ridge, both in
full view of the camp, were covered with snow, and a council of war was
lield. The concensus of opinion was that with little knowledge of the
country intervening between the army and Fort Duquesne, with the ter-
rible lesson which the army had learned by Grant's foolhardy expedition,
with no road cut except the path over which Grant had traveled, and with
winter coming on, it would be unwise to attempt to march an army that
distance. Forbes and his army had consumed fifty days in marching
from Bedford to Loyalhanna, a distance of about fifty miles. He had been
so reduced by the journey that much of the way he was carried on a litter.
The outlook was so gloomy that Washington says, an abandonment of
the expedition was contemplated. "\^ast as were the preparations." says
the historian Bancroft, "Forbes would never, but for Washington, have
seen the Ohio." At all events, a fort and winter quarters seemed neces-
sary, and its construction was, therefore, pushed forward as rapidly as
possible, and Forbes and Bouquet named it Fort Ligonier, after Sir
John Lord Ligonier, under whom they had served in the British army.
The place of deposit and so much of the fort as was completed were at
once used, and the army set about to prepare winter cjuarters to remain
in until the breaking up of winter. But just then several stragglers from
De \'itri's army were taken, and valuable though not entirely reliable in-
formation concerning the weakness of the enemy was gained. Further-
more on November 12, the command ran across another • squad of De
X^itri's men who were yet lurking around Fort Ligonier. They were
attacked, one of them was killed, and three were taken prisoners. One of
the prisoners proved to be an Englishman who had been taken from his
home in Lancaster county by the Indians. His testimony concerning
the weak condition of Fort Duquesne corresponded entirely with that of
the prisoners. It was therefore resolved to push rapidly forward to try
to capture it.

Before leaving Ligonier a circumstance occurred which needlessly in-
volved Washington in great danger, and this may as well be related here.
To quote from his own words ( Scribner's Monthly Magazine, May, 1894,
P- 537-) • "The enemy sent out a large detachment to reconnoitre our camp
and to ascertain our strength ; in consequence of our intelligence that
they were within two miles of the camp, a party commanded by Lieuten-
ant Colonel Mercer, of the Virginia line, a gallant and good officer, was
sent out to dislodge them. A severe conflict and hot firing ensued, which
lasting some time and appearing to approach the camp, it was believed that
our party was yielding the ground, and upon which, with permission of

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 19

'General Forbes, I called for volunteers and immediately marched at their
head to sustain our troops. Led on by the firing until we came within
less than half a mile of the enemy and the firing ceasing, scouts were
detached to investigate the cause and to communicate with Colonel Mercer,
our troops advancing slowly in the meantime. But, it being near dark
and the intelligence not having been full}- disseminated among Colonel
IMercer's corps, they took us for the enemy, who they supposed were ap-
]3roaching from another direction. Mercer's troops commenced a heavy
fire on ours and drew fire in return : in spite of all the exertions of the
officers one officer and several privates were killed and many wounded
before a stop could be put to it. I was, in accomplishing this, never in
more imminent danger, being between two fires and knocking up with
my sword the presented forces."

The late Dr. William D. AIcGowan tried to ascertain the location of
this battle, for he regarded it as of great interest that in his last years
A\'ashington, with the memory of all the dangers of the Revolution, indeed,
of a life of warfare fresh upon him, should calmly write that his imminent
danger was here in Westmoreland county. Dr. McGowan was of the
opinion that it occurred on the blufifs northwest of Idlewild.

In preparing for the hard march on Fort Duquesne the army was di-
vided into three brigades. One of the brigades was under the command
of Colonel Washington, and it was his duty to open up the read. It must
be remembered with great pride by Westmorelanders that it was here
in this county that Washington was first placed in actual command of a
brigade. This promotion came to him at Ligonier in November, 1758.
After him came Colonel Armstrong with about one thousand men to assist
in opening the road. They opened up the western part of what has since
been known as the Forbes road. Its location in the main is not a matter
of conjecture, for a journal of it was kept, which was sent to the British
War Office in London. This journal is now in the possession of the
Historical Society of Pennsylvania at Philadelphia. The road across West-
moreland, as shown by this document, is published for the first time in
the map accompanying these pages. The journal is labeled "General
Forbes" Marching Journal to the Ohio," and is signed, "John Potts."
Briefly outlined, the road took the same general direction from Bedford
to Westmoreland that was later taken by the Harrisburg and Pittsburg
turnpike. It crossed over Laurel Mountain froin Somerset county into
Westmoreland, on a line almost parallel with the pike, but was from one
to two miles north of it. It crossed the crest of the mountain and came
down the western slope, and crossed Laurel Run near the Penrod place,
and near Willow Grove schoolhouse. From there it took the dividing
ridge as near as possible between the brooks that flow into Mil! creek and
those that flow southward into the Loyalhanna, and came westwardly to

20 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUXTY.

Loyalhanna, where they encamped, and afterwards built Fort Ligonier.
Thus far there is no dispute as to its location. It has always been sup-
posed that it bore oiif toward the north from Fort Ligonier and crossed
Chestnut Ridge in the direction of Millwood, and then crossed the south-
western part of Derry township, and crossed the Loyalhanna at Cochran's
crossing (or ford) about two and one-half miles below — that is, north of
Latrobe, and that it then journeyed almost directly west to the present
Hannastown settlement and thence to Fort Duquesne. But the "Journal"
proves clearly that such was not the route taken. If this document may
be relied upon he crossed the Loyalhanna a few rods below Fort Ligonier
near the present iron bridge on the road leading from Ligonier to Donegal.
From the bank of the Loyalhanna he journeyed southward through the
present Valley cemetery until he passed around the hill west of Ligo-
nier, when he again turned westward, passing over the Withrow farm,
south of the Fry farm, to the Two Alile Run, and crossed both it and the
Four Mile Run and over the Chestnut Ridge in a comparatively straight
line, going west and bearing slightly to the north in the direction of Youngs-
town. After crossing the Nine Alile Run he passed out of that locality and
journeyed northward and westward. From the time he left the Nine
Mile Run he kept on the dividing ridge between the waters which flow
north into the Loyalhanna and those which flow south into the Sewickley
and into Turtle creek. He passed up the Brush Creek valley and out of
Westmoreland near Murrysville, and when nearing the Allegheny river he
bent his course southwardly, passing Shannopinstown, and thence to Fort
Duquesne. Each day's journey is marked on the map, the eighth bringing
him to Fort Ligonier, and the fourteenth to Fort Duquesne. These days
represent the daily marches of Forbes, not those of the brigades which
opened the road. The army was twelve days in making the road from
Ligonier to Fort Duquesne.

That Forbes crossed to the south of the Loyalhanna at Ligonier, and
not at Cochran's Crossing, has been disputed by high authority on West-
ern Pennsylvania history. Aside from the "Journal," which we regard as
proof positive that it crossed at Ligonier, there are two other reasons which
confirm strongly if not positively the accuracy of the journal. The first
is that the brooks which flow into the Loyalhanna from the south were
named Two Mile Run, Four Mile Run, Nine Mile Run and Fourteen Mile
Run, their numerals representing their distance from Fort Ligonier.
These names are shown on all early maps, and are used by all early writers
on the subject, indicating strongly that the early traveling was across
these streams, while the streams flowing into the Loyalhanna from the
north, which would have been crossed had Forbes road gone the other way,
have modern names which in no sense connect them with Fort Ligonier.
And, moreover, it is difficult to see why these streams should have borne

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUXTY. 21

such names at all unless tliey were crossed by the line of early day travel-
ing, namely, by the Forbes Road. They were not named by travel on the
State road, for it did not go near Fort Ligonier, and the fort was abandoned
before the State road was built. Standing at Ligonier one can readily see
why the sharp bend to the south was necessary after crossing the Loyalhanna,
for a high hill to the west prevented the army from taking that course directly.
By the southern bend they avoided the hill. That the draft corresponds exactly
with the peculiar topography of the country is a strong evidence of its accu-
racy. We are, therefore, from this evidence forced to conclude that the
Forbes Road crossed the Loyalhanna at Ligonier, and never crossed it again.

Though nearly a century and a half has passed away since that damp
chilly November when the road was made, yet in some places it can be
followed by its original cuts and embankments, and in many places is yet
used as a public road. For nearly a half a century it was the principal
highway between the east and the west. It was made about twelve feet
wide, and the object being only to make a temporary military way it was
very hurriedly constructed, particularly, for obvious reasons, after
it passed west of Ligonier. The army was twelve days in constructing
the road and in marching from Ligonier to Fort Duquesne, a distance of
fiftv-six miles. Notwithstanding the rumors about the weakness of Fort
Duquesne the army moved westward with great caution, allowing the
enemy no opportunity to repeat the surprise of Braddock and Grant. There
were a few friendly Indians with them, and these and some more daring
British were used as scouts in all directions.

On Friday, November 24, these forerunners saw the smoke arising from
the burning barracks of Fort Duquesne. De Lignery was in comriiand of
the fort. He, too, had scouts out, and from there as well as from the
actual contest at Ligonier on October 12 he knew that a defense of the
fort was impossible. Most of his forces took boats down the Ohio river,
having first destroyed most of the provisions and set fire to the fort. The
British army was then about Turtle creek,, not far from the unfortunate
defeat of three years previous. General Forbes, seeing the smoke, sent
swift riders forward to extinguish the flames and save everything of use
to them. Some supplies were saved, but the fort was almost entirely con-
sumed. The main army arrived at the dismantled fort on Saturday, No-
vember 25th. Sunday, the 26th. was by special orders observed as "A
day of public Thanksgiving." Rev. Charles Beatty, chaplain of Colonel
Clapham's Pennsylvania regiment, preached that morning the first Protestant
sermon west of the Allegheny Mountains. Beatty was a Presbyterian. On
Tuesday following a large detachment>was detailed to bury the dead of Brad-
dock's army and to perform a like service to the dead of their own army on
Grant's Hill.

Now over the smoking ruins of Fort Duquesne no longer floated, with

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

its lillied emblem, the banner of France ; in its place was the proud English
standard. Colonel Hugh Mercer was left in charge with a force of two hun-
dred men. General John Stanwix, of England, succeeded General ForBes,
and on September 3rd, 1759, a new fort was begun. It was named Fort
Pitt, in honor of William Pitt. Around it clustered a few log cabins, and
these have now grown into the wealthiest and most powerful city in the
world for its size. The historian, George Bancroft, has very beautifully
referred to the monument thus erected to the memory of the great English
premier, in the following language : "As long as the Monongahela and the
Allegheny shall flow to form the Ohio, as long as the English tongue shall
be the language of freedom in the boundless valley which their waters
traverse, his name shall stand inscribed on the Gatcvv-ay of the West."

The fort was abandoned and fired by De Lignery because of its weak-
ness as compared with the approaching army. General Shirley had been)

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 23

.successful in northern New York, and the French from that stronghold
could not support him. Hence his abandonment of the fort.

General John Forbes was born in Scotland. Though educated for the
medical profession, he when very young entered the English army and be-
came a lieutenant in the Scots Dragoons. He won the highest praise from
his general. Lord Ligonier, and other superior officers, and was quarter-
master general in the army of the Duke of Bedford. He was about forty-
eight years old when he reached America. It is said that when the tide
of affairs was against him he swore most violently, but this was a very
common vice among the European generals of his age. All through the
American campaign just described he suffered intensely from a general
breaking down of his system. From Fort Duquesne he was carried all the
way to Philadelphia m a litter borne by horses, and part of the way
by men. On March 13, 1759, he died, at fortj'-nine years of age. His body
lies buried in the chancel of Christ's Church in Philadelphia.

An incident important in the life of Washington which grew indirectly
out of this campaign may well be related here. The Virginia forces which
were assembling at Winchester preparatory to marching against Fort Du-
quesne were sadly in need of arms, tents, etc. Washington was finally or-
dered to Williamsburg to lay their condition before the council, with the
hope of securing further aid. He set off promptly on horseback. In cross-
ing the Pamunkey river on a ferry, he fell in with a X'irginia planter named
Chamberlain, who lived near by and who, with the old-time Virginia hos-
pitality claimed Washington as his guest. Washington pleaded the urgency
of his trip to Williamsburg, but finally consented to remain for dinner.
Among the guests at Chamberlain's was a charming young widow, Mrs.
Martha Custis, a daughter of John Dandridge, a patrician of Virginia. Her
husband had been dead about three years and had left her a large fortune.
She was of fine form, dark eyes and hair, with frank engaging manners. It
is believed that Washington had never met her before because of his ab-
sence on the frontier for several years. Washington had ordered his servant,
liishop, to have his horses ready to resume their journey promptly after
dinner. The horses pawed at the door, but for once their master loitered in
the path of duty and remained with the host until the following morning.
But though his stay was necessarily brief, his time waS well improved, for
even j^et before he journeyed westward with his troops they had mutually
plighted their faith, and they were married immediately at the close of the
campaign (January, 6, 1759.)

As we have seen, the main reason the citizens of Pennsylvania so greatly
desired that Forbes should cut his way through our province was, that
this territory of western Pennsylvania might thus be opened up for new
settlers. Braddock's expedition had, it is true, opened up a way, but his
ignominious defeat and the increased hostility of the Indians which fol-

24 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

lowed it had retarded rather than facilitated the settlement of our western
border. Immediately following Forbes" army came, therefore, the first
real settlers of the territory now known as Westmoreland county. The
Pennslyvania and Virginia soldiers of this army were largely disbanded in
the early part of 1759. Many of them with their families immediately started
west in pursuit of new homes. Many, it is true, pushed on west to the
Ohio valley. Those who stopped here settled mainly along the Forbes
road. Some, indeed, never returned with Forbes at all. Some of them
settled without any right on choice land which they expected to secure and
own by right of occupancy. To others was granted land by what was
called military permits, to which we will refer further on.

The entire country was then overrun by Indians and it was but natural
that the first settlers in our county should build log cabins around Fort
Ligonier, for there was an established military post with a guard varying
from twenty to one hundred men, under Lieutenant Lloyd, to guard this
part of the frontier and keep the road open. After the few families which
thus established themselves within gunshot of the fort, first came Andrew
Byerly in 1759. His land warrant is No. 36, and is for two hundred and
thirty-six acres and allowance. It was located in the Brush Creek valley,
on the Forbes road, about twenty-five miles west of Fort Ligonier, and
about seven miles northwest of Greensburg. He built a log dwelling house,
and kept it also as a stopping place for those who traveled back and forth
over the Forbes road. In a year or two he had several neighbors who, like
himself, were carving homes out of the dense wilderness. One of these
was Christopher Rudebaugh. This was fourteen 3'ears before the forma-
tion of the county, and they were virtually within the legal dominion of
Cumberland county. Their lands, as will be seen later on, were not patented
to them ; they were at first merely squatters, with perhaps a show of title
from the commander of the fort.

The French and Indian War was about settled. There had been a
treaty made at Easton in 1754 between the Delawares, the Shawnees and
the white settlers, and, as the Indians claimed and the Pennsylvania author-
ities always admitted, the white settlers had cheated the Indians, who,
being ignorant of 'geography, had ceded more territory by their treaty than
they had meant to part with. This in a high degree, increased the dangers
of our pioneers and induced the Indians to unite with Braddock's army. As
a result the years from 1755 to 1761 were at best years of great Indian
troubles. Nevertheless, many settlers came from the east.

In 1763, the whole western border was plunged into a most deadly
Indian werfare. This was due mainly to an Indian leader named Pontiac
and its history is best told by Francis Parkman in his most entertaining
work, entitled "Pontiac's Conspiracy." He was chief of the Ottawas, and
his tribe at this time centered near Detroit. He had fought with the French

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAXD COUXTY. 25

at Braddock's defeat. He was bold and daring, and had wonderful power,
not only in his own tribe but over all Indians with whom he came in con-
tact. He was, of course, urged on by the French, but aside from this his
foresight and real though misguided ability gave him a particular grievance
■against the English settler, viz. : that their whole tendency and aim was
to drive the Indians from their homes farther west and to forever destroy
their hunting grounds. Parkman rates Pontiac as pre-eminently endowed
with courage, resolution and Indian eloquence, and, moreover, as the
ablest leader the American Indians ever produced. "He could govern,"
says Parkman, "with almost despotic sway a race unruly as the winds,
and his authority was derived chiefly from the force of his own individual
mind." Urged on by the French, he carried on an inhuman warfare against
the white settlers in western Pennsylvania, and e.xtending as far east as
Carlisle, but the western settlements felt his severest blows. He had a
powerful organization composed of warriors from each of the Six Nations.

There was no warning, either, for one of his many strong points was
his ability to overrun a community before the settlers knew of his pres-
ence. Fort Pitt was in one night absolutely surrounded and cut ofif from
all outside communications or supplies. Moreover, it was in great danger
of falling, though the English had boasted that after so much bloodshed in
its capture it should forever remain in their possession. Pontiac in a few
days had devastated every settlement and surrounded each fort and block-
house as far east as Bedford. In times of Indian incursions the settlers and
their families left their homes and sought refuge in the forts, stockades and
blockhouses. Sometimes the roads leading to these places of safety were
crowded with frightened women and children.

Pontiac particularly aimed his forces against Fort Ligonier. Here
were collected provisions and ammunition. These were sent from Bed-
ford, and thence by pack-horses under military guard to Fort Pitt, which
had no other means of supply. If then Fort Ligonier fell into the hands
of the Indians, Fort Pitt would soon be forced to surrender or starve.
During this war Ligonier was under the command of Lieutenant Blane.
a most excellent officer, while Captain Ourry had command of Bedford.
Had these three forts fallen, the entire western frontier would have been
at the mercy of the Indians. Fort Pitt was commanded by Captain Ecuyer,
with a weak force which Pontiac's Indians, under Gu^asutha, of the Seneca
tribe, hoped to starve out.

In the meantime word was sent out from Ligonier and Bedford to Car-
lisle, asking Bouquet's army to come to their relief. But this would re-
quire weeks of marching over two ranges of mountains. The greatest
fear pervaded the inmates of the Fort at Ligonier. It had, furthermore,^
large quantities of military stores ready to be sent to the relief of Fort
Pitt. If the Indians could secure these, all else would be lost and the set-

26 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

tlements of the west laid waste. Fort Ligonier had already been attacked^
and failing to take it they tried to fire it by shooting arrows with in-
flamable substances attached, over the stockade, to the combustible build-
ings inside. Through the alertness of Captain Blane the attack was with-
stood and the fire man}' times extinguished. At this time Captain Ourry
of Bedford, came to the relief of Fort Ligonier by weakening his own gar-
rison, which, being nearer Carlisle and Philadelphia, where soldiers were
always stationed, was stronger than either of the other forts. He selected
twenty riflemen, all strong young men, accustomed to the hardships inci-
dent to frontier life, and directed them to make their way as rapidly as
possibly over the mountains to Ligonier. They could not come by the
Forbes Road, for that was particularly watched bv the Indians. They
struck out through the mountains, and very soon appeared on the hillside
east of the fort, doubtless on what is now East Main street, or between
that and the fort. Then a still greater danger confronted them, for, being
unheralded, they dare not approach the fort lest they be mistaken for the
enemy and fired on by those whom they sought to relieve. • But when partly
concealed by bushes, and while creeping nearer the fort, they were dis-
covered and fired on by the Indians who surrounded it, and with this cer-
tificate of good faith were recognized by the ever-watchful garrison, who
not only opened the gates to receive them but protected them by firing on
their pursuers. This relief came none too soon. The force was nearly
exhausted with fighting, though they had plenty of provisions, ammunition
and water. No one dared for weeks to leave the stockade. Domestic
animals suffered to wander outside were killed by the besiegers. It was
almost a continuous skirmish, and many Indians, with a few French Cana-
dians urging them on, were killed. Blane formed two companies, each
composed of soldiers and citizens who had come there from the community
for safety, drilled and armed the citizens, and they willingh' did watch
duty day and night.

In the meantime Colonel Bouquet, after eighteen days delay incident
to such expeditions — for it must be remembered that the community around'
Carlisle was also overrun with Pontiac's Indians — was hastening to their
relief. Carlisle was loath to give up its protection. The town was filled
with settlers who had flocked there for safety. Bouquet's mission was
not an inviting one. His way lay over the mountains, and except for the
narrow road cut by Forbes was for the main part through an almost track-
less forest. Before him in the wilderness lay the bones of Braddock's
army, and these dead in number far exceeded his little armv. The main'
army of the colonies was even then fighting in the northern frontier.
His forces were parts of the Forty-second and Forty-seventh regiments,,
which had recently landed in Philadelphia from the West Indies, where
they had been fighting the Spaniards. The Bouquet armv numbered less-

HISTORY OF U'ESTMORELAXD COUXTY. 27

than five hundred, but sixty of them were in ambulance wagons, and these
he hoped would be recovered far enough to do post duty and relieve the
forts on the way. Nor did his soldiers know anything about Indian warfare
save what he taught them as they marched westward. But the bravt
Swiss colonel was a most excellent teacher, for he was ever a match for
the shrewdest Indian warriors.

Not knowing Ourry had relieved Ligonier from Bedford, Bouquet
sent thirty men on a rapid and most hazardous march to relieve Captain
Blane. They made the march
and entered the fort much as
did Ourry"s men, viz. : under
the inelTectual fire of the en-
emy. All the way Bouquet
saw many signs of Indian in-
cursions but he saw no In-
dians. They even murdered
and captured families within
a few miles of his army, but
never showed themselves to
him. He meant to give battle
to them at Bedford, for iii
that vicinity their depreda-
tions indicated their presence
in large numbers, though they
had not attacked the fort be-
cause of its well known
strength. But when he arrived
there was no army to be seen
nor fought. He reached
Bedford on July 25th, when
he recruited his forces by
inducing thirty backwoods-
men to accompany them.
He reached Ligonier August henry bouquet.

2nd. His arrival again brightened up the drooping spirits of the fortress.
He left at Ligonier much of his heavier baggage, and with small wagons-
and packhorses carried forward only such provisions as were necessary for
his army and for the immediate relief of Fort Pitt, which, like Carlisle,
Bedford and Ligonier, was filled to overflowing with the frightened families
of the pioneers, and who were moreover reported to be almost starving. He
rested at Ligonier on August 3rd, and on the 4th marched westward by the
Forbes road which he had helped to make five years before. The first day
they marched about nine miles, crossing Chestnut Ridge, and camped west

28 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

of the Loyalhanna. On August 5th, they hoped to reach Bushy Run. nine-
teen miles away, and it is said by Francis Parkman that they meant to rest
only during the heat of the day and then push on thirteen miles farther,
passing the dangerous ravines east of Turtle Creek by night time, fearing
an attack should they pass by day. The country through which they
were marcliing was hilly, apparently intended for the lurking Indian, whose
strength lay in ambuscades and surprises. They resumed their march at
daylight on the morning of August 5th, and, though the weather was very
warm, by one o'clock the tired and thirsty band was nearing Bushy Run,
having traveled seventeen miles. Blane had added to Bouquet's army at
Ligonier what soldiers he could spare from the fort, and he was joined
by some civilians who were in the fort for safety. Among the latter was
Andrew Byerly and several of his neighbors. His forces now amounted
to about five hundred and he had about three hundred and fifty heavily
laden pack-horses.

A tall dense forest spreading for countless miles around covered the
hills and deep hollows. Byerly and his pioneer neighbors were in front,
when suddenly the sharp rattle of musketry, mingled with the Indian
yelping, sounded through the woods. The rear pushed up to support the
advance of the army, but the firing only increased. The fire was returned,
for a few Indians could be seen, and on these a general charge with'
fixed bayonets was ordered. This very soon cleared the ground, but only
temporarily, for it almost instantly burst out in the rear, which showed
Bouquet that his convoy of supplies was attacked. The troops at once
fell back, drove the Indians away, and formed a circle around the terrified
pack-horses. The attacking party was Guyasutha, heading a band of Indian
warriors that he had collected from as far east as Laurel Hill and from
around Fort Pitt. They knew the ground well, and fought from every pos-
sible place of concealment. The regular soldiers and Scotch Highlanders,
though not accustomed to such warfare, inspired by the skillful commander,
stood up bravely and resisted them in splendid shape. Again and again
bands of Indians, now on one side, then on the' other, would rush toward
the circle, trying to break in. They were fired at and regularl}- chased
back by bayonets, but escaping behind trees with great activity, very few
of them were killed. The British suffered more, for they were less ac-
customed to bush-fighting, and necessarily had to remain at one place
to guard the convoy. Thus the fight was carried on for seven hours with-
out intermission, and only ceased when the forest was darkened by the
approach of night. Then the soldiers camped for the night in the same
position they had occupied all afternoon, with sentinels in every direction.
Thirst had quickened their march at one o'clock, when the word had been
passed around that they were nearing Bushy Run. But now the surround-
ing enemy forbade their moving from the higher ground, and not a drop

HISTORY OFJVESTMORELAXD COUNTY. 29.

of water was to be found there. Bouquet wrote that their "thirst was.
more intolerable than the enemy's fire." Night was perhaps more horrible
than day. Bouquet himself was doubtful whether his army could survive
the contest which he knew the risintr sun would bring him. He there-
fore wrote an account of the day's doings to Sir Jeffrey Amherst, and closes,
with these words : "Whatever our fate may be, I thought it necessary to
give your Excellency this early information, that you may, at all events,
take such measures as you think proper with the provinces, for their own
safety, and the effectual relief of Fort Pitt ; as, in case of another engage-
ment, I fear insurmountable difificulties in protecting and transporting our
f)rovision, being already so much weakened by the losses of this day, in men
and horses, besides the additional necessity of carrying the wounded, whose
situation is truly deplorable."

About sixty of his men and several officers had been killed and wound-
ed. A place in the centre of the camp, surrounded by flour bags, was pre-
pared for them, but shots were fired against them nearly all night. With
the earliest dawn of morning the battle was renewed from all sides at once,
and, except that it was more furious, it was fought very much like that
of the day before. This was kept up until about ten o'clock, when the
fertile mind of the commander (and it is said on the urgency of Byerly)
"conceived a masterly stratagem." He knew that if the enemy could be
brought and held together he could easily whip them. He knew, too,
that from their increased audacity, the enemy thought Bouquet was
about to surrender. So he ordered two companies which formed part of
the circle to fall back to the central part of the camp, while the remaining
circle spread out to fill up the gaps made, apparently to cover the retreat
of the two companies. The line forming the circle was also drawn in be-
cause of their fewer numbers. The Indians, as was intended, mistook this
for a retreat, and, bloodthirsty for a rich harvest of scalps and provisions,
with furious yells rushed headlong towards the circle. But below the
circle there was a depression in the ground, covered with a thick growth
of trees, which concealed it from the Indians, who were swarming around
the circle. Through this depression these two companies rapidly ran, and
very soon came around behind the furious assailants and opened fire on
them. The Indians thus surprised, and many of them killed at the first
fire, stood their ground until the Highlanders, with yells as wild as their
own, fell on them with bayonets. As was expected, they could not with-
stand a charge with bayonets, and gradually lost ground. But, while the
charge was in progress, Bouquet, with the eye of a soldier, seeing the direc-
tion the Indians must flee when overcome, had concealed two other com-
panies taken from other parts of the circle, in the bushes, with orders to
await the approach of the enemy. Pressed by the terrific Highlanders, now
maddened with hunger and thirst, they soon passed directly in front of the

30 HISTORY OF ]VESTMORELAND COUNTY.

Ttwo companies, concealed in the bushes. These arose and fired squarely
into them, and then charged them with bayonets. This completed the
rout and the four companies united drove them flying down the hill,
firing as rapidly as possible, but giving the Indians no time to reload. Many
were killed, and the remainder of this division were scattered in hopeless
confusion.

While this took place a smaller body of Indians had maintained a
steady contest and about an equal one, with those who still guarded the
■other side of the circle, but, when they saw their comrades flying in dis-
order through the woods, and saw the victorious troops advancing to
attack them with bayonets, they lost courage and ran. In a few minutes
all was quiet, and not a living Indian was left on the ground. There were
sixty dead ones, however, and among them were several prominent chiefs
and warriors, and the blood stained leaves showed that many more of
those who fled were badly wounded. The British took but one prisoner.

The barrel of this gun was plowed up about 1828 by a man named Moore, on the Bushy Run
battlefield (August 5, 17631, It remained in the Moore family until 1888. when it came into the
possession of J, Howard Patton, who had it remounted. It shows the flint lock very well.

whom they immediately shot like a wild beast. Bouquet's loss was eight
officers and one hundred and fifteen men, undoubtedly greater than that of
the enemy. The first battle lasted seven hours, the second about six. The
weakened army moved only to Bushy Run that afternoon, where they en-
camped for the night. During the march to Fort Pitt, twenty-four miles,
they were annoyed more or less by small attacks, but reached their destina-
tion without further severe loss. Though the contestants were nearly
equally matched as to numbers. Bouquet had fewer troops than the enemy.
The Indians never fought with more fury, and were equalled only by the
valor of the Highlanders. A great deal has been said and written about
this battle. The consensus of opinion in history is that it was one of the
ablest contested battles ever fought in America between white men and
Indians. It was fought on and near the land of Andrew Byerly, about
twenty-six miles from Fort Ligonier, and about eight miles northwest from
•Greensburg.

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 31

Colonel Henry Bouquet was born in Switzerland in 1720, and almost
from his boyhood was a soldier, first as a cadet, and then under the King
of Sardinia. Next he enlisted in the Holland Guards, after which he was
made lieutenant-colonel of the Swiss Guards (1748). In 1754 he was made
lieutenant-colonel of a regiment organized by the Duke of Cumberland
for service in the American colonies, and came to America in 1755. He was
fond of society, and became a great favorite in Philadelphia, where he
was stationed. His personal appearance was commanding and dignified.
He, though a Swiss, wrote the English language with an exactness much
superior to the average foreign officers of his day. Naturally he was full
of resources in times of emergency, and was without the arrogance of

Block House at Fork of the Ohio, built 1764. by Henry Bouquet. Still

standing, now the property of the Daughters of the American

Revolution of Allegheny County.

many of the officers of his time. Unlike Braddock, he almost intuitively
acquired a practical knowledge of Indian warfare. No soldier in America
of foreign birth so distinguished himself in this direction as he. Often,
when necessary, he penetrated dark ravines in advance of his men, armed
with a rifle and playing the role of a scout. The year following the battle
of Bushy Run he organized a force which set out from Fort Pitt and invaded
the Indian country as far as the Muskingum valley in Ohio. He baffled
the savages at every point, and so chastised them that they were glad to
sue for peace. The result was the "Treaty of Bouquet" (1764). The
assembly of Pennsylvania and the Burgesses of Virginia adopted addresses

32 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUXl V.

of gratitude and recommended h;m to His Majesty, King George III, for
promotion. He was accordingly made a brigadier-general and sent to
British America in charge of the English armies, where he died suddenly
in 1767. It was on this second expedition (1764), that he built the now famous
block house of Pittsburgh, a cut of which is here given.

Guyasutha, commanding the Indians at Bushy Run. was a chief of the
Senecas, and with him were members of the Ohio tribes. He, too, was a
strong warrior, though by no means so powerful as Pontiac. He was a real
savage, without mercy, and never made peace save when compelled to.
When Washington made his famous trip to Venango (i753). Guyasutha ac-
companied him as a guide. Washington thought kindly of him, and paid
him a visit at his house in 1770, when on his way to the Ohio, at which
time he savs the chief treated him with great kindness.

6fff£^ COUZ/T/

MAP OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY, SHO'

JG ROUTE TAKEN BY GEN. FORBES

CHAPTER II

The Grant to William Penn.— Disputed Boundaries. — Mason and Dixon's Line.— Indian
Purchases. — Military Permits. — Titles, etc.

In order to understand the methods by which our country was settled,
and by which our titles were granted, the reader must glance at our earlier
history and its effects upon our Province prior to the opening of the land office
in 1769.

All of the Province of Pennsylvania was granted by Charles II of England
to William Penn for services which his father, Admiral Penn, had rendered
the English government in various European wars. These wars had
brought the royal army to riiin, and the monarch himself to the verge of
bankruptcy. Through the stately courts of Windsor Castle the bankrupt
monarch wandered back and forth, trying to devise a means of paying this
debt of 10.000 pounds. Finally, a grant of land was determined on, and
with the result that our province, unlike any other in America, was granted
solely to an individual and not to a company or colony, as the others had
been.

William Penn began a settlement in his Province at Philadelphia in
1682. It was never called a colony, as other settlements were, but a "Prov-
ince," indicating, in some degree, that its government and direction was
under the dominion of one man. The heirs and descendants of Penn were
called Proprietaries, and the country which they governed a Province,
or a Proprietary Government. From William Penn's first settlement in
Philadelphia, his policy was primarily one of peace with the Indians.
Though his title to the land was preeminent, yet he repurchased these
lands from the natives ; these lands which were already his own by a
royal grant. In this way the Province was saved much bloodshed, and
only when his pacific principles in dealing with the Indians were for-
gotten or disregarded was our western section deluged in blood.

W^illiam Penn's grant began at the Delaware River, near the 40th
degree of north latitude, and extended west in a straight line a distance
of five degrees of longitude, and thence north to Lake Erie. When it was

34 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

finally surveyed there was no doubt about its boundaries. But, at the
time of the first settlement of our county, the boundary of Virginia con-
flicted, as it was then believed, with our territory. In 1609 the Virginia
Company had been chartered by James I. By their charter, though
it had been revoked in 1624, they laid claim to southwestern Pennsylvania
and Ohio, and all of the territory north and west to the Pacific Ocean.
The Virginia authorities claimed that Penn's grant of five degrees west
of the Delaware would not reach beyond the Allegheny Mountains, or, at
all events not west of the Monongahela River. This river flowing nearly
north, and the Allegheny River, flowing south, would have made a natural
western boundary for Pennsylvania. The Virginia authorities claimed
further that they had fought for this district to wrest it from the French
and Indians, in the armies of Braddock and Forbes, and that the territory
had been already settled to a considerable extent by people from their
colony who had been guarded and protected in every way by Virginia.
These pretensions were somewhat arrogant, and, in the main, ill founded
for, while Virginia soldiers were fighting in western Pennsylvania, our
soldiers, enlisted by the same authority, were in the army sent to the
northern lakes.

The southern boundary had been in dispute, too, but in 1767 Lord
Baltimore, Governor of Maryland, arranged with the Penns that two sur-
veyors should survey the line and forever determine the boundary between
Maryland and Pennsylvania. The surveyors chosen were Charles Mason
and Jeremiah Dixon, but their authority extended west only as far as
western Maryland. The line they located has since been known as "Mason
and Dixon"s Line", but it did not settle definitely the line west of Mary-
land, though Governor Farquier and the Virginia authorities never ser-
iously doubted its western location after that. Of course it settled noth-
ing as to the western boundary line of western Pennsylvania, and Virginia
continued to claim the land between the Monongahela and the Ohio rivers.
They sold lands in that section at lower rates than the Pennsylvania au-
thorities were selling them in any section, and the latter discouraged all
settlements in the disputed territory until the boundaries could be deter-
mined. The reasoning on the part of, both colony and province was obvious.
To Virginia it was a clear gain to sell this land at any price, for the author-
ities did not hope to hold it under the ultimate decision. But Pennsylvania
had plenty of land for sale in undisputed territory, and why, therefore,
sell and improve lands which might some day fall within the domain of
Virginia? Moreover, it was the policy of the Pennsylvania authorities to
settle lands gradually as they went west, so that frontier settlers miglit
unitedly protect themselves against the Indians. But there was another
still greater reason why, as far as possible, they discouraged all settlements
in this section. William Penn, as has been said, purchased or repurchased

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

35

his lands from the Indians, and he so thoroughly implanted this pacific
principle in the minds of his sons and representatives that though he had
then (1/68) been dead fifty years, they were still following his precepts in
this matter. The Proprietaries never willingly permitted any one to
settle on land in a district or section which had not been purchased by them
from the Indians. Of course, the Indians were gradually receding before
the white race. They were by nature a wandering tribe, and the white
race was naturally progressive and aggressive. Those purchases were
made at treaties between the Indians and the white men. At these treaties
both races were represented, and no territory was supposed to be ceded by
the Indians to the white race, that is, purchased from them, except for
valuable concessions on the part of the white race, and except upon a
mutual agreement entered into between the representatives of the white
race and the representative Indians in the treaty. These treaties from time
to time secured to the Indians certain districts over which they were to
have "sole and despotic" dominion, in return for others which were ceded
to the white race. The districts thus ceded to the white men were called
"purchases." With but slight provocation, the Indians broke their treaties,
but it is doubtful whether they ever, as a race, flagrantly broke a regularly
authorized treaty without some unnecessary provocation or reason given
them by the white settlers. jLi3G2*^0

At the treaty at Albany in 1754, all lands lying west of the Susquehanna
ri\'er to the limits of Pennsylvania were supposed to be ceded to or pur-
chased l3y the white men. But the Indians very soon discovered that
their representatives in the treaty did not understand the location of the
western boundary, nor the points of the compass, as well as the white rep-
resentatives, for by this treaty they had parted with all their rights as far
west as Ohio. Much of this land had been virtually secured to them
by former treaties between the white race and the Six Nations, viz.:
the Mohawks, Oneidas, Cayugas, Onondagas, Senecas and Tuscaroras.
To say the least, the purchase at the Albany treaty was irregularly (if not
fraudulently) gained from them. So flagrant was this fraud perpetrated
on the Indians that Governor Morris in 1755 issued a proclamation in
which he denounced the Albany purchase as a fraud which he said was
an afifront to the whole world. It took from the natives, said he, that
which had been virtually ceded to them, and with which they had not
knowingly parted, and was so sweeping in its dimensions that it left
them no country east of Ohio to roam over and call their own. The white
representatives of the Albany treaty defended their actions by giving out
that they, too, were ignorant of the geography of western Pennsylvania,
and by the terms of the purchase had received much more than they in-
tended. This may have been true.

This, as we have observed before, was one of the great incentives which

36 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

promued the Indians to unite with the French in opposing Braddock,
and which spurred them on to the violence and bloodshed which followed
in the nexi three years after his defeat. The white race thus paid dearly
for the actions of their incompetent if not dishonest representatives in the
Albany treaty.

For this, as a further reason, the Proprietaries opposed the settlement
of our territory. They had no right to grant lands in this section except
by virtue of the Albany purchase, which they admitted and published was
fraudulently obtained, and to grant them would have been at least in
violation of the implied prior rights of the Indians. There were several
of these treaties by which this section was practically secured to the
Indians, the principal ones being those of 1736, 1749 and 1758.

But far above and paramount to the rights of the Proprietaries, were
the reserved privileges of the King of England. At will he had the right
to send his armies anywhere in America, to make conquests, open roads,
establish military posts, and even to support here a standing army, if his
policy demanded it. When the French and Indian war was terminated in
favor of England, the Crown secured the Canadas as well as the boundless
west. The military posts built by the French fell into possession of the
English. These had to be kept up, and for the purpose of supplies alone,
if for no other reason, a communication had to be kept up between them
and with the eastern settlements as a base of supplies for the garrisons.
Most of the forts, whether built by the French or English, were garrisoned
all the time, and all of them part of the time. Generall}' the commandant
was an English officer, though sometimes he was an American. These
fort commanders were delegated the power, under certain restrictions, to
grant permits to any one to settle on, occupy and improve lands near the
forts or on military roads leading from one fort to another. This seemed
necessary, too, for the sustenance of the garrison. These settlers, particu-
larly after the first year, raised farm products in abundance to supply
themselves, and were glad to sell a sufficient amount to supply the garri-
son. In this way alone, perhaps, the garrison could be supported. It was
a scheme of the great war minister. William Pitt, and was worthy of him,
the most acute intellect of his day. The commandants did not grant
absolute titles, but titles which might be perfected afterwards by comply-
ing with such regulations as the Proprietaries might require. The Eng-
lish government never even recognized the Indians' claim to the land, and,
of course, never questioned Penn's or his successors' titles.

In the meantime hundreds of settlers had located in our section, many
with military titles, and many without any right and in direct disobed-
ience to the mandates of the Proprietaries, who did not allow private indi-
viduals to settle here at all. They squatted on land which they thought
desirable and hoped eventually to become its owners. It was wisdom on

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 37

the part of the Proprietaries to keep out these settlers, for their presence
was a constant menace to the Indians, who did not and could not know but
that they were there by grant of the Penns, and, therefore, in violation of
their treaties. Several acts were passed to prohibit settlers from locating
on these proscribed lands, and on February 13, 1768, an act was passed
which provided that any one having settled here without permission, and
who should neglect to remove after a legal notice was served on him to
do so, should, after being convicted of such neglect, "be punished with
death without the benefit of the clergy." There was a severe penalty, im-
prisonment and fine, imposed on those who even hunted turkeys or deer
or other wild animals in the prohibited district. Of course, these drastic
measures did not apply to those who had long before settled here, nor to
those who settled by military permits. Most of those adventurous spirits
who were determined to come here, evaded the law in a measure by secur-
ing military permits, and these were granted right readily by the accom-
modating commandants. The following is a copy of a military permit,
wliich needs no explanation :

"By Arthur St. Clair, Late Lieut, in his Majesty's Si.xtieth Regt. of foot, having
oare of His Majesty's Fort at Ligonier.

"I have given permission to Frederick Rohrer to cultivate a certain piece of Land
in the neighborhood of Fort Ligonier, over a certain creek, which empties into the Loyal-
hanna known by the name of Coal Pit Creek : Beginning at a White Oak standing on
a spring and marked with three letters F X R and running from thence to another tree
marked with the same letters and standing on another spring called Falling Spring, and
from these two marked trees to the said Coal Pit Creek supposed to contain two hun-
dred acres: He the said Frederick Rohrer being willing to submit to all orders of the
Commander in Chief, the Commanding officer of the District and of the Garrison.
Given under my hand at Ligonier this nth day of .\pril, 1767. Ar. St. Clair."

The Proprietaries, fearing an outbreak of the Indians, did everything
they could to keep all other settlers ofif the prohibited district. Yet, in spite
of all opposition, this section of Pennsylvania was rapidly filling up. Had
there been nothing to prevent its settlement save the Indians, it would
have been filled up almost at once with an aggressive pioneer element who
would have made short work of the aboriginal race. Settlers came west by
the Braddock road and by the Forbes road, the only highways open, and,
both these ways traversing our county, a great many settled here. The
Indians were always at war among themselves, and no doubt often killed
each other. But when a dead Incban was found, the murder was always
attributed to the white settlers. Nevertheless, George Crogan, a brave,
loyal and most capable white settler and Indian diplomat at Redstone,

38 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

reported many Indians killed by white settlers, and insisted on the Pro-
prietaries devising some means to stop it effectually. These early settlers,
it may be inferred, were a stubborn race and accustomed to roughness.
Crogan's representations were never disbelieved nor cjuestioned. He was
undoubtedly correct in his report.

In April and May of 1768 a preliminary treaty was held at Fort Pitt.
Crogan was the leading spirit among the white people, and there were
about 1700 Indians present. Alany presents were given to the Indians,
but no agreement or settlement of difficulties was arrived at. It was rather

SIR WILLIAM JOHNSTON.

H friendly meeting, and the Indian spirit was somewhat allayed, but the
settlers would not remove, and more were constantly arriving. The
authorities, therefore, knew that a general Indian war might be expected
almost any time.

One of the most prominent men then living in America was General
Sir William Johnston. He lived near the present city of Johnstown, in New
York, and was, all things being considered, the ablest diplomat in Indian
affairs in this country. He had managed many treaties, and was thorough-
ly honest and thoroughly trusted by both races. He had at the age of

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 39

nineteen come to America in 1734 because of a disappointment in love in
Ireland, it is said, and settled in the Mohawk Valley in New York, where
he managed and gradually acquired large tracts of land and traded ex-
tensively with the Indians. He became very wealthy, and built a stately
mansion, which is yet standing near Johnstown. He was married to a
Dutch woman, and upon her death married a handsome Indian girl. He
was ecjually a leader, whether among the well bred citizens of his native
land, or among the savages of America, among each class adapting him-
self readily to their habits of life. He had been a major-general in the
French and Indian ^^'ar, and was afterward knighted by George I. The
novel, "Cardigan," by Chambers, will be instructive to the reader if he
is further interested in Indian life, or in Sir William and his marvellous
power among them. He had great influence either to end or prevent In-
dian outbreaks.

So now, when the Indians of New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia and
Ohio were rapidly putting on their war paint, and when the trembling
wife and mother scarcely knew when she parted with her husband and child
in the morning whether she would ever see them again or not, all sections
turned to Sir William as the arbitrator of the difficulties between the white
and the Indian race. He suggested and called a convention at Fort Stan-
wix, in New York, in the fall of 1768. By his great power over all represen-
tatives most of the Indian grievance^ were redressed, tomahawks were
buried, arrows were broken, and peace and harmony was secured. The
final treaty was reached November 5th, 1768, and by its terms all territory
from a point where the Susquehanna crosses the New York line, down to
the south-west corner of Pennsylvania, including the Allegheny, Cone-
maugh, Alonongahela and Youghiogheny river valleys, was conveyed to
the Proprietaries. This was and is yet called "The New Purchase," and
embraces the present territory of Westmoreland county. It was to us
therefore the most important of all purchases, and was the last made by
the Penns from the Indians. The consideration paid to the Indians is
said to hkve been $10,000 in presents and money and unlimited rum.

This, of course, opened up the territory so that the Proprietaries could
grant lands in this section if they saw fit. There was accordingly a great
clamor for land in western Pennsylvania. The east, they said, was over-
populated, and their ambitious young men who wanted more land could
not be provided for. Perhaps the very fact of settlement in this section
having been so long prohibited, made the young pioneer all the more
anxious to locate here. We were not then very far removed from England,
with its large landed estates. The use of coal had not been discovered,
and every land owner thought he should have enough timber to furnish
fuel for him and his descendants forever. While they were necessarily
wasteful of timber in clearing land they nevertheless reserved an abund-

40

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

ance. Our people were almost purely an agricultural people, and nothing
so pleased them as broad acres of land. Besides, there were many com-
ing here from Europe, who had been held down by the landlord's heel of
oppression, and -whose great cry and burning desire was large tracts of
land.

It had always been the custom of Penn and of his successors to re-
serve sections of land for themselves. The proportion was generally about
one acre of .reserved land in ten acres sold. This custom was begun in
1700 and kept up constantly for three-fourths of a century. There were
two such reservations in our county. The first was called the "Manor of
Denmark," and was situated on the Forbes road, where the battle of Bushy
Run was fought, and contained four thousand eight hundred and sixty-one
acres. Manor station of the Pennsylvania railroad marks its location.
The second was known as "Penn's Lodge," containing five thou-
sand five hundred and sixty-eight acres, and is now within the limits of
Sewickley township. The latter is rich in agricultural wealth, and the
former was underlaid with bituminous coal. But the Penns did not sell
all of this reserved land. They were Philadelphians, and, when the Revo-
lution came, manv of that city's best people were Tories, and among them
were the Penns. They took sides with England and against the colonies.
In these reservations they had retained absolute rights of government. They
could make laws, establish courts, appoint judges, and grant or withhold any
special privilege they saw fit. Our state government by its representatives
which followed the Declaration of Independence, rightly reasoned that a power
siding with a foreign nation at war with us should not hold such dominion
over any considerable part of a free commonwealth. Therefore, on June 28,
1779, they passed the "Divesting Act," which took from the Penns most of
their territory, leaving them only their private reservations, and vested it in
the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The Penns were, of course, properly
recompensed for it. It will therefore appear that the titles to lands in these
two sections may be traced to the Penns, even though granted after the date of
tlie "Divesting Act." All other titles granted after that date, June 28, 1779.
were granted by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, though all titles between
April 3, 1769, and the state's independence were granted by the Penns.

The land office was opened for warrants from the new purchase in
1769. The date was April 3d. The method of parting with land adopted
by the Proprietaries has been practically unchanged even to this day. The
party desiring land from the Provincial government first made an application
for it. Upon this application a warrant was issued. A warrant was not a
title in itself, but an order from the Land Office to have the tract applied for
located and surveyed, and was directed to the surveyor-general, who in per-
son or by deputy surveyed it and returned the survey tc the Land Office. Then,
if there was no irregularity or no prior claimant, the land was conveyed u_v

HISTORY Of WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 41

the state to the appHcant by a patent under the seal of the Commonwealth
and the signature of the governor. From the foregoing it will be learned
that no warrant fo.r land in Westmoreland county antedated 1768, the year of
the Fort Stanwix Treaty and the New Purchase, though we have many set-
tlements which are older than these titles.

Those who had settled and improved their lands were now allowed to per-
fect their titles by securing warrants and patents. A preference of location
was shown to those who had served in the army, and likewise to those who
had settled by military permits. But warrants were not issued till 1772 to
those who had made improvements or had land surveyed without some right
to do so. After that, as far as it was possible to da so without imposing on the
rights of others, the Land Office authorities, when it came to grant titles,
recognized the claims of the enthusiastic pioneer who had settled here in de-
fiance of law and authority. But the titles to some lands within the present
limits of our county settled in this way were involved in almost endless liti-
gation. In some instances these tracts were sold often more than once, before
a title from the Proprietaries or the Commonwealth was possible. From this
and other complications arose land litigation which for almost a century per-
plexed the minds of the ablest lawyers and judges we have yet produced. They
were known as land lawyers, a title which is almost unknown to our generation.

CHAPTER III

Formation of County. — First Courts. — Elections.

The reader may wonder why, when the settlers hved so remote from their
county seat, they were so slow about securing the erection of a new county.
This will appear all the more remarkable when he glances at the length of time
intervening between the formation of new counties coming westward. Phil'
adelphia, Bucks and Chester counties were formed by William Penn when the
Province was formed in 1682. They have always been known as the Quaker
counties. Next, coming westward, was Lancaster county, erected in 1729.
Twenty years afterward came York county, in 1749, and Cumberland in 1750.
Bedford was erected out of the western part of Cumberland twenty-two years
later, in 1772.

The explanation is a very simple one. A new county had to be erected by
an Act of Assembly, and the old counties had a preponderating influence in
that body. Each county wanted to retain its political power, and, but for the
desire on the part of the Proprietaries to sell lands in the newly formed coun-
ties, we doubt whether they would have followed each other in their formation
as rapidly as they did.

The project of forming a new county out of western Cumberland county
had been agitated for several years by Arthur St. Clair and others. It resulted
in the formation of Bedford county, with Bedford town as a county seat. But
still the agitation was kept up. They now asked for a county in the New Pur-
chase, the seat of which would be west of the Allegheny mountains. Bedford
as a county seat really suited them but little better in this respect than Cum-
berland, for the Allegheny mountains still intervened between them and
their county seat.

Arthur St. Clair, Thomas Gist and Dorsey Pentecoast had been appointed
justices for Bedford county for that section lying west of Laurel Hill. There
was some further show of a Bedford county dominion over this western section
of the state, for roads were laid out west of Laurel Hill, and the territory
comprising the present Westmoreland county was divided into townships,
and Bedford county taxes were assessed.

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 43

But they were still too far from the scat of justice to go there on busi-
ness, or send their criminals there for trial. Bedford was seventy miles from
Greensburg, and the means of travel were not so good then as now. Com-
binations were formed by desperate classes to resist the power of these remote
justices. One or two deputy sheriffs who came here from Bedford to arrest
these evil doers were severely beaten and sent home. Indictments were pre-
ferred against them, but the authority was too feeble. The committing mag-
istrates were too far from the courts to make their power even felt.

The community around Pittsburg and Ligonier had become pretty well
settled, and there were settlements all along both Braddock's and Forbes'
road. Those near Pittsburg were one hundred miles from their county seat,
and were separated from it by three ranges of mountains, viz. : the Chestnut
Ridge. Laurel Hill, and the Alleghenies. Virginia, moreover, had land for
sale in these western parts, and at lower rates per acre than the land was sell-
ing at in Pennsylvania. This induced many settlers to locate there instead of
in western Pennsylvania, for rather than endure the hardships of being one
hundred miles or more from a seat of justice, they would leave Pennsjdvania
and purchase 'lands in Virginia. St. Clair and his friends were all this time
urging the formation of a new county. He stood high with the Penns. He
had been their agent for many years. He was thoroughly educated, and had
the military distinction of having served in the army with Wolfe at Quebec.
Through his wife, a Boston woman of high standing and culture, he had a
great deal of wealth, and was furthermore a large owner of land west of
Laurel Hill. His efiforts in this direction doubtless carried great weight with
the Proprietaries. The Land Office, it will be remembered, had been opened
in 1769, and new settlers had been coming here in caravans ever since. These
were now headed by St. Clair, busily engaged in circulating petitions asking
for the formation of a new county. These petitions are now preserved among
the Penn papers in Harrisburg, and they set forth the wants and disadvantages
of these western people very much as they are outlined above.

In the early part of the year 1773 the Assembly took up the matter, and on
February 26 passed the act organizing the long prayed-for new county. The
Governor, Richard Penn, signed the bill and named its officers to serve until
an election could be held. So far, in the selection of names for new counties,
the Assembly, or those introducing bills, had not gotten away from the good
old English names, and so the new county was named Westmoreland, after
the county of the same name in England. The name was in itself somewhat
appropriate, for here in the zt>est was, indeed more land than was then oc-
cupied.

The first section of the act erecting it sets forth the necessity of such a
county as judged by the signers to the various petitions from west of Laurel
Hill. It also bounded the new county, though in that it was necessarily some-
what indefinite owing to the lines of Virginia and Pennsylvania not being yet

44

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAXD COUNTY.

definitely determined. It began at a point where the most western line of the
Youghiogheny river crossed the boundary of Pennsylvania, thence down the
river till it broke through Laurel Hill, thence by Laurel Hill in a northwesterly
direction till that chain of mountains is lost, or connected with the Allegheny
mountains: thence it followed the crest of the watershed between the west
branch of the Susquehanna and the Allegheny rivers to a point at the head
waters of the west branch of the Susquehanna, and from there west to the
line of the Province, and by that line to the place of beginning. This, it will
be seen, does not include the territory on the Ohio, or between the Ohio and
the Monongahela rivers. That district was then claimed by Virginia, and
Pennsylvania both, and not without reason on either side. It finally brought
about Dunmore's war, a most unfortunate affair, as will be seen later on.
When the dispute over this territory was finally settled it fell to Pennsylvania,
and became for some years a very important part of Westmoreland county.
The new county therefore practically included all the territory of the present
counties of Westmoreland, Washington, Fayette, Greene, Allegheny, Butler.
Beaver, Crawford, Erie, Mercer and Lawrence, and part of the counties of
Indiana, Armstrong, Venango and Warren. Nearly one-fourth of the entire
state of Pennsylvania was embraced in Westmoreland county, and from its
original territory the above counties were afterwards erected. While she has
been the mother of counties in western Pennsylvania, she is still territorially
one of the largest in the state, and is the first in population among the strictly
rural counties of the L^nited States. Our courts, of course, never exercised an
extensive jurisdiction over the most remote parts of the original district, for
they were not only but sparsely settled, but were too far away. They were
like we were with Bedford county. Yet it is not uncommon that the first
record titles of lands lying in many of the other counties, are found in the
early records of Westmoreland county : particularly is this true of Allegheny
county, which remained in Westmoreland nearly sixteen years.

The second section of the erecting act vouchsafed to the people of the
county the same privileges enjoyed by the old counties ; gave us one member
in the Assembly ; one voting place for the whole territory' : and provided that
the election should be held at the house of Robert Hanna until a court house •
should be built. Robert Hanna lived on the Forbes road, about four miles
nortliwest of Greensburg, and some of the voters from our most northern
"precincts" must have traveled several hundred miles if they came out to
vote.

The next section gave the supreme court and its decisions the same
authority in this as in other counties, and authorized them to hold courts of
general jail delivery for those charged with capital offences, as in other cnim-
ties. The next section authorized the Governor to appoint a sufficient number
of justices to hold courts of quarter sessions, common pleas, etc., and fixed
that the time for holding them should be the Tuesday before the Bedford
county courts in January, July and October of each year. It also directed that

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY

4o

these courts should be held at the house of Robert Hanna till a court house
should be erected. It further made a provision for the collection
and application of such taxes as were already assessed in Bedford
county on property within the new county, and provided for the
appointment of trustees to build a court house and jail. It also provided for
the trial of suits from this section already brought in Bedford county, and di-
rected that the sheriff of Bedford county should take charge of the first elec-
tion in Westmoreland county.

The day after the passage of the act, Governor Richard Penn sent to the
Assembly a list of names of those he had selected for justices of the county
courts and justices of the peace. These names were : James Hamilton, Joseph
Turner, William Logan. Richard Peters, Lynford Lardner, Benjamin Chew,
Thomas Cadwalader, James Tilghman, Andrew Allen, Edward Shippen, Jr.,
William Crawford, Arthur St. Clair, Thomas Gist, Alexander McKee, Robert
Hanna, \MlIiam Lochry, George Wilson, William Thompson, Aeneas McKay,
Joseph Speer, Alexander McLean, James Cavett, William Bracken, James Pol-
lock. Samuel Sloan, and Michael Rugh, Esqrs.

A few words of explanation concerning the duties of these justices may
not be out of place here. Any three of them had power to hold the ordinary
common pleas and quarter sessions courts. The act of September 9, 1759,
provided that "persons of the best discretion, capacity, judgment and integ-
rity" should be commissioned for the common pleas and orphans' court, any
three of whom were empowered to act. All were appointed for life on good
behavior. By the constitution of 1776 the term was limited to seven years, but
the constitution of 1790 restored the former tenure. The act of 1722 also
provided for the appointment of a supreme court of three judges (afterwards
increased to four) before whom the proceedings of the county court could be
reviewed. This supreme court had further jurisdiction over all capital cases,
and for this purpose they were compelled to sit in each county twice a year.
Treason, murder, manslaughter, robbery, horse stealing, arson, burglary,
witchcraft, etc., were all punishable by death. Any three of the above justices,
therefore, could hold our ordinary courts, but they could not try a case the
punishment of which was death. They were also justices of the peace, and
could separately hear cases as our justices do now. Some of the above named
justices were really great men, and are spoken of elsewhere in this work. They
were not learned in the law, but were men of high standing in the community.
Westmoreland county was therefore erected during the proprietary gov-
ernment of the Penns. and placed under the reign of the English law. On
April 6. 1773, in the reign of George III, the W^estmoreland courts were first
opened at Hanna's house. There were several houses near, and the place
soon became known as Hannastown. W^hen court was opened, William
Crawford presided on the bench, and had two associate justices with him.
The house in which the courts were held was a two-story log house which

46 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

was also used as a dwelling house by Robert Hanna. This was the first
court held west of the Allegheny Mountains, where justice, in its rude tem-
ple of unhewn logs, was administered according to the forms and rules of
the English law.

The first business attended to by the court on the morning of April 6, 1773,
was to divide the county into townships. They made eleven townships cover-
ing the territory from the Youghiogheny River to Kittanning, and from
Laurel Hill to the Ohio river. These townships were named Fairfield, Don-
egal, Huntingdon, Mt. Pleasant, Hempfield, Pitt, Tyrone, Spring Hill, Ala-
nillin, Rostraver and Armstrong. The names are not all found now in our
countv. In the final division of the territory then embraced in Westmoreland,
some of them fell into other counties, where they still exist by the same names.
From the minutes of the court kept very completely, we learn that ;\It.
Pleasant township was bounded by the Loyalhanna on the north, then ex-
tended through the Chestnut Ridge to Crabb Tree Run, thence down Crabl)
Tree to the Forbes road, thence by a straight line to Braddock's road and
along it to Jacob's Creek, thence up Jacob's Creek to Fairfield township,
on Chestnut Ridge. Hempfield was bounded on the north and west by the
Conemaugh and Kiskiminetas rivers, and extended thence down past
Brush Run and by Brush Creek to the mouth of the Youghiogheny River,
and up the river to the mouth of Jacob's Creek to the Mt. Pleasant town-
ship line. Spring Hill embraced all beyond the Youghiogheny River, and
is now in Fayette and Washington counties. Armstrong embraced all
north of the Conemaugh and Loyalhanna.

The next business of the new court was to empannel a grand jury, with
John Carnahan as foreman. They then a^Dpointed constables and road super-
visors. The constables had immediate business, for several jurors who had
been summoned to appear were not present, and these were sent for, and when
brought in by the new constables they were promptly fined for their non-at-
tendance. The next business was to license certain citizens to sell intoxicating
liquor. There were : Erasmus Bock, John Barr, William Elliot, George Kelly
and Joseph Erwin. The latter was a tenant of Robert Hanna and kept the
tavern at Hannastown, and Hanna being on the bench, of course took care of
his tenant. But there is no evidence that any vvho applied were refused a li-
cense. The court furthermore fixed the rates to be charged by the tavern
keepers licensed, and directed the clerk of courts to make a copy of thes(?
rates for each one licensed, who should pay to the clerk one shilling and six
pence for making it out. The rates fixed were spread on the minutes of the
court and were as follows :

Whiskey, per gill, 4 pence; West India Rum, per gill, 6 pence; Continent, per gill,
4 pence; Toddy, per gill, i shilling; One bowl of West India rum toddy in which there
shall be Yi pint of loaf sugar, i shilling 6 pence ; A bowl of Continent, i shilling ; Maderia
Wine, per bottle, 7 shillings and 6 pence; Lisbon Wine, 6 shillings; Western Toland

HISTORY OT JrESTMORELAND COUNTY. 47

\\ine5, 5 shillings; Grain per quart. 2I2 pence; Hay and stabling per night, i shilling;
Pasturage per night or 24 hours, 6 pence; Cider per quart, i shilling; Strong Beer per
quart, 8 pence.

The incompatibility of office to which we are now accustomed was not
known in that day. One man could hold as many offices as he could secure.
Arthur St. Clair was our first prothonotary antl clerk of courts, which offices
he held in Bedford county. But he was also a justice, and sometimes sat on
the common pleas bench. Occasionally too, he conducted a case, perhaps in
the absence of a regular attorney. He kept the court records, and during the
time of Indian incursions and during Dunmore's War. he took them to his
house in Ligonier for safe keeping. James Brison was employed by St. Clair
as his office clerk, and remained in the office some years after St. Clair re-
signed to enter the Revolution. Those who will take the time to examine our
first court records kept by Brison will feel ainply repaid, and will be delighted
with their legibility and artistic beauty. After one hundred and thirty-two
vears they are almost as bright and legible as though they were written but yes-
terday.

John Proctor was appointed sheriff, a position he had held in Bedford
county, though he lived west of Laurel Hill, in what is now Unity township.
Part of the time he resided in Hannastown, otherwise on his farm near St.
Mncent's monastery. His sureties were William Laughry and iRobert Hanna,
and they were approved in the presence of Michael Hufnaagle, by Arthur St.
Clair, all of whom were justices. Proctor was a man of sterling qualities, and,
though appointed by the Penns, he took sides against them when their Tory
principles brought thein into a conflict with the people. He was a colonel in
the militia of his day, a regiment of Associators brought into being by the
gathering war clouds. During the Revolution he held many offices of trust.
With Thomas Galbraith he was appointed to seize the property of Tories.
Later he was a member of the Assembly, His last days were somewhat
clouded, for his property was sold by the sheriff in 1791, and his family were
afterwards very poor. He was a Presbyterian, and his house was used as a
preaching place before a church was erected. He is buried in Unity cemetery,
in an unknown grave, near his old but more fortunate neighbor, William Find-
ley. We shall often have occasion to refer to John Proctor in the ensuing
pages.

The election which was provided for in the erecting act was held at Hanna's
house on October i, 1773. Proctor was elected sheriff, and was commissioned
again October i8th. Joseph Beeler, James Smith and James Cavett were
elected first county commissioners. James Kinkaid and William Harrison
were chosen coroners. Benjamin Davis, Charles Hitchman, Christopher Hays,
Philip Rodgers, James IMcClean and Alexander Barr were elected asses-
sors for the various parts of the county. All were sworn into office by St.
Clair. The commissioners proceeded at once to adjust debts and levy a

48 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

county tax. William Thompson was elected as our first assemblyman.
For eight years the entire county voted at Hannastown, and at several
elections there were less than one hundred votes cast. In 1783 there were
two other districts provided for, but when Fayette county was erected in
1784, one of them, the Redstone district, fell almost entirely within the new
county. So the legislature changed the district so that those electors who
still remained in Westmoreland should vote at William Moore's house, in
Rostraver township. The act of September 13, 1785, redivided the county
into five districts ; all living north of the Conemaugh and Kiskiminetas
rivers were to vote at Daniel Dixon's house ; all in Ligonier valley between
Fayette county and the Conemaugh river, were to vote at Samuel Jameson's
house ; all in Huntington and Rostraver townships were to vote at William
Moore's house, in the latter township; those in the Fort Pitt district, now
Allegheny county, were to vote at Devereux Smith's house ; and all who
were not included in these four districts were to vote at Hannastown. By
act of September 19, 1786, all in the Hannastown district were to vote there-
after at Greensburg, then called Newtown. On September 29, 1789, Derry
township was erected into an election district, and Moses Donald's house
was named as the voting place. By act of January 11, 1803, Franklin town-
ship was annexed to the Greensburg district. By act of April 4, 1805,
Fairfield township, including the present township of Ligonier, was made
a separate district, with a voting place at William Ramsey's, now known as
Fort Palmer, and by the same act Donegal was made a district, with the
voting place at Major George Ambrose's.

CHAPTBR IV

Selection of a County Seat.— Old Hannastown .—Erection of a Jail. — Sentences of the
Court. — Slavery.

The Act of Assembly creating the county, as we have said, provided for
the appointment of trustees to locate and erect public buildings. These trus-
tees were appointed by the Supreme Executive Council, the legislative body
of the state, and were Robert Hanna, Joseph Erwin, John Cavett, George
Wilson and Samuel Sloan. Hanna must have been a leader of men, for in this
case, as in many others, he managed to have matters go his way. He was
an Irishman, and had settled on the Forbes road, about midway between
Ligonier and Fort Pitt. There was considerable demand for a stopping
place, and he converted his house into a tavern. As early as 1770 he had
several other Irish settlers near him, and in 1773 the Hanna settlement had
grown to a small town, and was the only one on that section of the Forbes
road. He rented his house finally to Joseph Erwin, to keep the tavern, and
in some way these two induced Sloan, who was a neighboring settler, to
vote with them on the question of location. Thus there were three
out of five trustees who voted for Hannastown as a county seat. It was not
without great opposition that this selection was made. Aeneas McKay, a
very bright and prominent citizen of Pittsburg, on March 3, 1773, wrote
a letter to Arthur St. Clair in which he greatly deprecated the selection of
Hannastown. After expressing surprise that the new county should thus
be crippled in its infancy, he says :

"Where is the convenience for transacting business there, since there are neither
houses, tables nor chairs. The people must sit at the roots of trees and on stumps, and
in case of rain the lawyers' books and papers must be exposed to the weather. Nothing
can be done properly except receiving fees, and everybody attending court, except the
lawyers, must be suflferers.

"The whole inhabitance of Pittsburg exclaimed against this partiality. If I had as
much influence among the great as you (St. Clair), I would try to have trustees selected
from Philadelphia, by which means Pittsburg could not fail to be selected. But if they
are selected from hereabouts, ten to one Joe Erwin, the tavern keeper, will prevail."
4

50 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

We must also read St. Clair's letter to Joseph Shippen, president of the
Supreme Executive Council. It is dated at Ligonier, January 15, 1774,
(See Pa. Arch. vol. 4, page 471).

"Sir: This letter will be delivered to you by Mr. Hanna, one of the trustees of
Westmoreland county. To some manovers of his I believe the opposition to fixing
the County Town at Pittsburg is chiefly owing, as it is to his interest that it should con-
tinue where the law has fixed the courts pro tempore; he lives there, used to keep a public
house there and has now on that expectation, rented his house at an extravagant price.
Erwin another trustee adjoins, and is also a public-house keeper. A third trustee, Sloan,
lives in the neighborhood which always makes a majority for continuing the courts at
the present place. A passage in the law for erecting a county is that the courts shall
be held at Hanna's house till a court house and jail are built. This puts it in their power
to continue them as long as they please for a little management might prevent a court
house from being built these twenty years. That you will excuse inacuracies as I write
in greatest hurry, Mr. Hanna holding the horse while I write. I will see you early in the
spring."

On October 3, 1774, the trustees made the following report.:

"We being appointed trustees for the county of Westmoreland to make a report for
a proper place, having accurately examined and considered the same, do report that 'tis
our opinion that Hannas Town seems to be the most centrical and fit to answer the pur-
pose intended. We are further of the opinion that should your Honor and the Honorable
Council think the Brush Creek Manor a more proper place, it cannot be of much disad-
vantage to the county. We pray your Honor sentiments on this head which will be
most fully acknowledged by us. (Signed). Robert Hanna, Joseph Erwin, Samuel Sloan,
John Cavett.

John Cavett signed the report, but George Wilson did not. Both he and
Cavett were opposed to its location at Hannastown. They had at first voted
in favor of Pittsburg, and St. Clair spoke for the minority, and even then
foretold something of the great future that place had in stoTe. He also
favored Pittsburg, because, while it was really our territory, Virginia was
claiming it, and he wanted to take possession and boldy assert the rights of
the Province by founding a county town there. St. Clair also stated in a
letter to Gov. Richard Penn that Hanna and Erwin had voted for Hannas-
town through selfish motives. But how public-spirited St. Clair was can
only be seen when we remember that he had then thousands of acres of land
east of Hannastown, and very little around Pittsburg. In this, as in all
other public matters, he easily forgot his own interests when they were in
conflict with the general good.

Hannastown was really not a bad selection as viewed now, where new
counties were formed all around. It was centrally located, and, e.xcept in
futuro, Pittsburg had very little advantage over Hannastown, for in 1775

HISTORY .OF WESTMORELAND COUXTV. 51

Pittsburg had only twenty-five or thirty log houses, and the fort, while
Hannastown had at all events, nearly that many.

The report and action of the trustees was never endorsed entirely by the
Proprietary government, and it is doubtful if Hannastown would have be-
come the permanent county seat, even though it had not met with disaster.
The trustees adopted the plan feared by St. Clair in his letter above quoted.
They never built a court house, but court was held in Hanna's house which,
of course, was also his dwelling house.

Hannastown was a collection of from fifteen to twenty houses built
of hewed logs, and roofed with split shingles, or clapboards. Alost of these
houses had but one story and a loft, the latter often accessible only by a
ladder. The well-to-do people (for wealth has only a relative value) had
two-story houses with two rooms and a large fireplace below. There was
a stockade erected there in 1774 under the direction and by the advice of St.
Clair. This undoubtedly helped the town and settlement a great deal, for the
■early pioneers felt more secure if located near a fort or -stockade, and the
stockade was therefore a great inducement to settlers. The town increased
to from twenty-five to thirty log houses, a jail and stockade, when the Rev-
olution came in 1775 and 1776, and it never grew any more, because during
the war many of its citizens were bearing arms in defense of the colonies,
and home improvements were sadly neglected. The best days of Hannas-
town were from 1773 to 1776. Moving westward from the old counties
was then at its height, and this was the popular and only highway through
Pennsylvania. Then when the war clouds began to gather the militia mus-
ters came into vogue, and for Westmoreland county were held at Hannas-
town. This was a great event. Militia parade day, among our forefathers
and for more than fifty years, remained without a rival as a means of as-
sembling the honest yeomanry of our western section. Nearly all of our
population then was in the country ; there were few towns, and but small
need for them. The people raised all they ate, and with spinning wheels
and looms manufactured nearly every thing they wore from wool and flax,
both home products. There were no stores, in a modern sense, at Hannas-
town. There was scarcely any thing to buy and almost no money to buy
it with, hence the absence of stores. Whisky, rum, etc., were sold under
license, and there was also a sale for flints, powder, lead, and a few other
articles, but there was no occasion for anything like our country stores are
now.

Shortly after the courts were opened and the public officers sworn in,
the commissioners began the erection of a jail. It was made of round logs,
using only the largest trees. It was a square building, of one story and one
room. It was strong enough to hold the average prisoner, and those who
were considered dangerous or likely to break jail, were chained to the logs.
In comparison to the number incarcerated, jail breaking was not so common
then as now. Nearby the jail were the whipping post and pillory, for it

52

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

must be remembered that our laws then required these instruments of
punishment, and they were used, too, in Hannastown, as will be seen
further on. The whipping post was a section of a small tree, about one
foot in diameter, hewn flat on one side and firmly implanted in the ground.
Five feet from the ground was a cross piece about six feet long, thoroughly
fastened to it. The whippings were always public performances. \\'hen
the wrong-doer was about to be whipped, his arms were stretched out and
his hands or wrists were tied firmly to the ends of the crosspiece. The
culprit was then ready to expiate his crimes and afford a public illustration
of the vaunted majesty of the English law, "the accumulated wisdom of
ages." The sheriff or his deputy did the whipping. Our court records
show that this method of punishment was not by any means uncommon in
Hannastown. The first man to be whipped was James Brigland, who in
October, 1773, plead guilty to a felony and was sentenced by Judge William
Crawford to receive ten lashes on his bare back, well laid on, the next morn-
ing. Luke Picket was found guilty of stealing, and was sentenced to re-
ceive twenty-one lashes on his bare back, well laid on, the next morning, be-
tween the hours of eight and ten o'clock. So with Huens West, who was
convicted of the same offense. His sentence called for but fifteen lashes.

The pillory was made like large folding doors, and fastened between two
upright posts. In this door were three holes, and through these holes the
head and arms of the prisoner were passed and his arms tied. In this posi-
tion he was forced to stand for such a period as his sentence directed. By
the English law, which was then in force in Hannastown, any person pass-
ing a prisoner in the pillory had a right to throw one stone at him. The
pillory was erected out in the open, where the passer-by could exercise his
time-honored common law right of stone casting.

John Smith was charged with stealing, and pleaded guilty. His sen-
tence reflects but little honor on our early courts. He was to receive
thirty-nine lashes on the bare back, well laid on, and his ears were then to
be cut off and nailed to the pillory ; and he was to stand one hour in the
pillory. Fortunately our early court history is not often disgraced with
sentences so inhuman as this. William Howard suffered one hour in the
pillory in 1774, after having received thirty lashes on the bare back, well
laid on. This was, moreover, in the month of January, when the tempera-
ture is not supposed to have been very mild.

In October, 1775, Elizabeth Smith was ordered to receive fifteen
lashes on the bare back, well laid on. She was furthermore an indentured
servant of James Kinkaid, who had therefore at that time a right to her
uninterrupted services. Four days after she was whipped, James Kinkaid
presented a petition to our courts setting forth that he had been unjustly
deprived of her services while she was in prison, and while she was recover-
ing from the elTects of the sentence. He therefore asked a redress for this

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 53

loss. Judges Hanna, Lochry, Sloan and Cavett were on the bench and they
deliberately considered his request and decreed that she should serve
kinkaid for a period of two years after the expiration of her indenture. '

James AIcGill was found guilty of a felony in 1782, and was sentenced to
a public whipping, then to the pillory, after which his right ear was to
be cut oiT, and he was to be branded in the forehead with a hot iron.

All of our court business of this character was conducted in the name of
the King of England, George the Third. Instead of being headed "Common-
wealth vs. John Smith," as is the custom now, the caption was "The King
vs. John Smith," etc. But immediately after July 4, 1776, when the Decla-
ration of Independence was signed, "the King" was dropped from the
record, and "Republica" or "Respublica" were substituted, and later the
change was made to the caption now used.

It is not pleasant to contemplate these atrocious sentences, but they are
matters of our court history, and are introduced here more to show the
reader how our courts have advanced in their administration of justice in
the past century, than for any other reason.

Perhaps the servitude of Elizabeth Smith as refered to above needs some
explanation. We had at this time three species of servitude, or slavery,
in Pennsylvania, and consequently in Westmoreland county. First, there
were indentured servants, who were bound either for life, or for a term
of years, generally the latter. It may have been a very harmless indenture,
and was of very common occurrence. A minor could thus be indentured by
his parents, or when twenty-one years old could indenture himself. Some-
times it was very simple, that is, when a father indentured his son to pay
him a debt, or perhaps for the conveyance of a piece of land. It was, in
any case, recognized by the law. The second class were foreigners who
were very poor in Europe, and by indenture for a term of years secured
5ome one to pay their passage money to America. These indentures
were largely in the hands of speculators. The person giving the indenture
was called a "Redemptioner," and the indenture was transferable, so that
a speculator could gather up any number of people in foreign lands, inden-
ture them for his own service, bring them to America, and, when here, sell
their services to the highest bidder or at private sale. Thus the speculator
could realize a large profit on the amount invested for passage money.
This species of service is illustrated in the novels, "To Have and to Hold,"
and "The Redemptioner," by iMiss Alary Johnston.

Our forefathers sanctioned all this by their laws, court decisions and ac-
tions. It brought many inferior people to. America, and perhaps some good
blood, too. Redemptioners were very common in Westmoreland. Many of
our farmers and well-to-do people purchased their services. Sometimes the
position of a Redemptioner was better than that of the negro slave in the
South, but it is a deplorable fact that the more we look into the matter, the

.,4 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY,

less do we venerate our pioneer ancestors, of high pretentions and integrity.
Before judging them too harshly, and before giving illustrations from our
court records of the hardships of this systerii of servitude, it may be well
to look into the condition of the country, its laws, and the age in general
in which they lived, all of which should in some degree mitigate the severity
of our opinion. For instance, a man in that day was allowed to beat his
wife, if the stick he used was not thicker than the judge's thumb. A people
are not generally better than their laws. Many who came from England
and Ireland and settled in Western Pennsylvania purchased large tracts of
land, and at once regarded themselves as nabobs, owners of large landed
estates, like the nobles of England. They tried to emulate and imitate the
weaker rather than the stronger characteristics of the landed gentry of
Great Britain. Hugh Henry Brackenridge, afterwards justice of the su-
preme court, and one of the brightest men of his day, in a chapter entitled
"Modern Chivalry," says that we had men in Westmoreland county, who
held and abused slaves and Redemptioners, who would not for a "fine cow
have shaved their beards on Sunday."

Our courts frecjuently in other cases than Kinkaid vs. Smith, as noticed
above, were called on and did extend the time of servitude of Redemptioners
because of loss of time and various reasons mentioned in the petitions of the
masters. This can be seen in the case of George Paul vs. Margaret Butler,
July sessions, 1773, and Semple vs. Jane Adams, July sessions, 1788, and in
many other intervening cases. In July sessions, 1773, John Campbell
stated by petition that his servant, Michael Henry, had been sent to jail,
and that the petitioner had therefore sustained a loss of 2 lbs. and 17 shil-
lings, together with much time and annoyance. He therefore asked such
redress as the court saw fit to grant him. The court decreed that Michael
Henry should serve him four and one half months after the expiration of
his indenture.

So in the case of Gutchell vs. Quilkin, at July sessions of 1773, wherein
Andrew Gutchell sets forth that his servant, Joseph Quilkin, will not do
his duty, but on the contrary is negligent and idle, and prays for relief
against those from whom he purchased Quilkin. The court took Quilkin
into its custody and issued a summons against Robert Meek, Alexander
Bowling and William Bashers, to appear at the next session of the court
and give sufficient reasons for selling Quilkin as a servant.

In April sessions of 1779, George Godfrey sets forth by petition that he
had been bought as a servant by Edward Lindsey, and l)y Lindsey sold
to Edmund Price, and by Price sold to William Newell, and that the term
of his servitude had expired, etc. The court heard the testimony, and where-
as William Xewell, the last purchaser, was not in court to defend his claim
to a longer ser\'ice, they discharged Godfrey from further services.

After the destruction of Hannastown there were two men tried, con-

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 55

victed and hanged there. The one was an Indian named Mamachtaga, who
\vas defended by Hugh Henry Brackenridge, then a young lawyer. Bracken-
ridge has left a complete account of the trial. The Indian was a Delaware,
and, though his tribe had generally been friends to the white settlers, he
was always hostile. There was a camp of Delawares on Kilbuck Island,
near Pittsburgh. Mamachtaga was among them, and badly intoxicated. A
man named John Smith visited the tribe, whereupon the drunken Indian
fell on him with a knife and killed him. Another man named Evans was
also killed before the infuriated Mamachtaga could be overpowered. The
Indian was confined in the guard house, the lock-up of Pittsburg being in-
secure, and it was considered unsafe to transport him to Hannastown. Our
ordinary judges, competent to try other cases, had no jurisdiction in
capital cases, and there was considerable delay in sending a supreme court
jadge here. There were several attempts in the meantime on the part of
the citizens to secure the Indian and shoot him. Our people scarcely
thought that an Indian had any rights before the law. Failing in this, they
tried to force Brackenridge to take an oath not to defend him. They -.vera
also afraid that his tribe would release him by force, or that he would
break jail. So Robert Galbraith wrote to President Dickinson, urging him
to send the properly qualified judges at once that the Indian might have a
speedy trial. He also asked that the president send the death warrant
along with them, to save time as he said, for there was no doubt about his
conviction. The Indian gave his attorney an order on another Indian for a
beaver skin as a fee and signed the order by his mark, which
was the shape of a turkey-foot. His attorney exchanged the beaver skin
for a blanket and some food, which he gave to the client, for his confinement
was very uncomfortable. But the Indian now thought that this beaver
skin satisfied the law for his crime; a good beaver skin, he reasoned, was
a high price to pay for killing a white man. Judge ^NIcKean came to Han-
nastown to try him and they had great difficulty to get him to plead "not
guilty" ; to deny the killing was foreign to his ideas of the dignity of an
Indian warrior, and moreover he had paid for the dead man with a beaver
skin and how could he deny the killing? According to his belief, the killing
of a white man was a badge of honor, that a warrior should boast of rather
than deny. The court, however, entered his plea of "not guilty," and the
case went on. The Indian challenged jurors, rejecting the cross, sour-look-
ing ones, and accepting the cheerful pleasant faced men to try his case.
Brackenridge defended him on the plea of drunkenness, and that he did
not know what he was doing when he committed the act. This was over-
ruled by the court, but when the savage was told through his interpreter
that the judge would not excuse him on that account, he said he hoped the
Great Spirit above would do so. The jury convicted him at once, as was
pr' dieted by Galbraith. When the interpreter told him he must die, he

56 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

asked that sheriff Orr should shoot him instead of tomahawking him, as
he expected. When about to be sentenced, he asked that the court would
allow him to hunt and trap and said he would give the proceeds of his work
to the famil)- of the man he had killed. At the same time a man named
Brady was sentenced to be branded on the hand with a red hot iron. To
do this it was necessary to tie the hand and arm with a rope, so that a good
letter could be made. The sheriff accordingly went out and broiught in the
rope, branding tools, etc. The Indian, not having this part interpreted,
thought that he was to suffer immediately and made a great ado about it.
But when he saw Brady being tied and branded he calmed down and
rather enjoyed it. The judges, as was the custom then in capital cases,
wore scarlet robes, and the Indian said he thought they were in some
way closely connected with the Great Spirit. When in jail awaiting his
sentence, the jailor's child was taken sick. The Indian said he could dig
roots in the woods to cure it. So, on promising not to try to escape, he was
taken to the woods, w^here he procured the necessary herbs from which a
medicine was brewed and given to the child, which recovered. The Indian
did not try to escape. When the day of the execution arrived, the Indian
wanted to die like a warrior. So he was again taken to the woods, when
he procured herbs and with the juice painted his face red. A simple minded
white man was to be hanged on the same day, though not for murder. The
gallows was erected on the hill west of Hannastown, known to this day as
Gallows Hill. It was made of two logs planted in the ground and a third
log for a cross piece. A rope hung from the center of the cross-piece, and
a ladder leaned against it. The prisoner to be hanged was taken up the
ladder, the rope adjusted and then the ladder removed. The hands of the
prisoner were tied so he could not grasp the ladder. The white man was
hanged first, and the execution passed off all right. But the Indian, being
a large heavy man, broke the rope and fell to the ground. As soon as he
recovered he rose to his feet with a smile on his face. Another rope was pro-
cured and both ropes were used. So he was strangled to death. With his
last words he asked that his tribe should not go to war to avenge his death.
The white man should have been sent to an insane asylum, but there were
none such to send him to. ,

So long as St. Clair remained prothonotary, with James Brison as
office deputy, the records are well kept. Had they continued it would have
been well for the early history of the county. Cut St. Clair resigned and
entered the Revolution in 1775, and after him came Michael Huffnagle.
During his encumbency the records are very poorly kept, and many of
them are lost. This may have, in part, resulted from the exigencies of the
times, for they were often secreted from the marauding Indians. St. Clair
took them to Ligonier for safe keeping at his home several times. During
the Revolutionary period the records are the most meager. There is noth-
ing to show, for instance, that Hannastown, the county seat, was destroyed.

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

57

nor that the county seat was removed to Greensburg. After some two
years of service HutTnagle went to war as captain of the Eighth Battalion,
and took the records with him, regarding them as private property. It is
probable that he based this claim on the theory that with his own and not
the public money, he had purchased the journals, dockets, etc. Many de-
mands were made of him for them, but he refused to deliver them up.
Finally the matter was carried to Thomas Wharton, president of the Su-
preme Executive Council, for the urgent needs of the Westmoreland people;
demanded their immediate restitution. President Wharton laid the matter
beforr Gen. Washington in a letter urging its necessity, and asking that
^^■^^hillgton order Huflfnagle to appear before the council to give the reason
for their detention. (See Pa. Archives). Huflfnagle then, to save his good
ramc with (Jen. Washington, delivered them up. The idea of an officer of a
county retaining his records was not entirely uncommon. The abuse grew
until 1804. when a law was passed making it obligatory, under a heavy pen-
alty for disobedience, for the outgoing ofificer to deliver all records to his
successor.

By the Act of March ist, 1780, African slavery, the third species of ser-
vitude to which we referred, was to be abolished gradually in Pennsylvania.
Those who care to read the text of this act will find much to admire in it,
for it is indeed a model in its expression of humane principles, and in its
diction it is surpassed by nothing in our legislative enactments. It pro-
vided, among other things, that any one who held negroes or mulattoes
as slaves, should file in the office of the clerk of the quarter sessions court
his own name, residence, etc., and a list of the names of all his slaves, and
give the age and sex of each slave. The clerk entered these lists on the
journal, and they are therefore well preserved. There were two hundred
three slave holders who filed lists, but some of them owned onlv one
slave. The entire number of slaves then reported was six hundred ninety-five
of whom three hundred forty-two were male negroes, three hundred
forty-nine were females, and four whose sex is not given. Eleven
were listed as mulattos. The names of the slave-owners comprise our
wealthiest and best people, and among others, are two clergv-men. They
Ywcd mostly in the southern part of the country, ^^']len the law was passed
many of the slaveholders who owned larger numbers moved to Maryland,
or \'irginia. and took their slaves with them, for this they had a right to do.

At this time George Washington owned land in the county near Jacob's
creek, and his agent, Valentine Crawford, worked it, in part at least, with
slaves or redemptioners owned by Washington. In a letter to Washington
dated at Jacob's creek, July 27, 1774, he says :

"Dear Colonel : On Sunday evening or Monday morning, one of the most orderly
men I thought I had ran away and has taken a horse and other things. I have sent
you an advertisement of him. * * * I have sold all the men but two and I believe

58 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

I should have sold ihem but the man who is run away had a very sore foot, which was cut
with an axe and John Smith was not well of the old disorder he had when he left your
house. I sold Peter Miller and John Wood to Mr. Edward Cook for 45 pounds, the
money to be applied to building your mill. I sold Thomas McPherson and his wife and
James Howe to Major John McCulloch and Jones Ennis for 65 pounds, payable in six
months from date. To my brother I sold William Luke, Thomas White and the boy
John Knight. He is to pay you for them or if you open up your plantation down the
Ohio, below Wheeling, he is to return them to you. * * * I should have sold all of the
servants agreeable to your letter if I could have got cash or good pay for them, but the
confusion of the times put it out of my power. I went down to Fort Pitt a day or two-
and two of my own servants ran away. I followed them and caught them at Bedford
and brought them back. While I was gone two of your servants stole a quantity of bacon-
aiid so I sold them at once."

The following is a copy of the advertisement referred to in the above
letter from Crawford to Washington :

FIVE POUNDS REWARD.

Run away from the subscriber, living on Jacob's creek near Stewart's Crossing, in
Westmoreland County, Pa., on Sunday night the 24th instant, a convict servant maa
named William Orr, the property of Col. George Washington. He is a well made man,,
about five feet ten inches high, and about twenty-four years of age. He was born in.
Scotland and speaks that dialect pretty much. He is of a red complexion and very full-
laced with short sandy colored hair, and very remarkable thumbs, they both being crooked.
He had on and took with him, an old felt hat bound with black binding, one white cotton-
coat and jacket with black horn buttons, one old brown jacket, one pair of snufif colored
breeches, one pair of trousers made in sailor fashion and they are made of sail duck, and.
have not been washed, a pair of red leggins, and shoes tied with strings, two Osnabary
shirts and one Holland shirt marked V. C. which he stole, and a blanket.

He stole likewise black horse about fourteen hands high, branded on the near shoulder
and buttock R. W. and shod before. He had neither bridle nor saddle that we know of.
1 expect he will make to some sea-port town as he has been much used to the seas. Who-
ever takes up said servant and secures him so that he and horse may be had again, shall
receive the above reward, or three pounds for the man alone and reasonable charges if
brought home paid by me.

All masters of vessels are forbid taking him out of the country on their peril.

July 25, 1774. Val. Crawford.

For Col. George Washington

By the Act of Alarch i, 1780, and its supplements, children born to
slaves owned in Pennsylvania were to be free when they arrived at the age
of twenty-eight years. Likewise, slaves brought into Pennsylvania from
other states under covenant could not be held after they reached the age
of twenty-eight. It provided also that if the master refused or neglected

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

59

to register his slaves, the slaves should go free. In 1798 there were twelve
slaves in Hempfield township, which then embraced Gr'eensburg. In
1801 the number of slaves in the county was one hundred thirty six, but part
of this reduction was due to the fact that Allegheny and Fayette counties
had been carved out of our former territory, but were with us when the
registration was made. In 1810 there were twenty-one slaves, and in 1820
only seven. One slave, a female, was reported in 1840, she being the last
in the county.

Slaves were often sold at public outcry in the streets of Greensburg.
There was a regular auction block on the court house square, and from it
the negroes were "knocked down" to the highest bidder. Sheriflf Perry
sold a number of slaves which had been seized for debt, selling them from
this auction block. As late as 1817 George Armstrong. Greensburg's first
chief burgess, auctioned ofif a negro girl who belonged to a client of his.

White men and women known as Redemptioners were also sold from the
auction block in Greensburg. The last sale of this kind of which we have
any record occurred IMarch 5, 1819.

CHAPTER V

The Boundary between Virginia and Pennsylvania. — Dunmore's War.

It would be unprofitable to go further into our county's history without
some further knowledge of the Virginia and Pennsylvania boundary trou-
bles. To refresh the memory of the reader, we will say that Virginia
claimed all territory west of the Monongahela river, at least, and many
claimed that the crest of Laurel Hill was the line. The latter claim would
have thrown all of our present county in Virginia, and the former a large
part of the territory as it then existed. This boundary question had been
agitated almost constantly for twenty years. As long as the territory lay
unsettled or was not being sold by the Proprietaries of Pennsylvania, the
boundary question did not demand, an immediate adjustment. But when
Westmoreland county was erected, that part which Virginia most coveted,,
the land at the forks of the rivers and Fort Pitt, was included in Westmore-
land county, and under the dominion of the Proprietary government. Vir-
ginia must therefore assert her claims and defend them or retire from the
field.

She had long since laid claim to it openly under Governor Spotswood,
Dinwiddie had sent Washington to look after it in 1753. She had furnished
about all the fighting element in Braddock's army. Furthermore, the Pro-
prietaries of Pennsylvania, when asked to furnish soldiers to repel the
French, replied that they were not certain that the French at Fort Du-
quesne were on their territory. Yet in 1752 Governor Thomas Penn in-
structed his soldiers to assist Virginia, to construct a fort at the forks of
the river, but to do nothing which would injure his claims to the territory.

Christopher Gist, a very bold and enterprising Virginia pioneer, made
a survey of the region and assumed that the territory was in Virginia,
though he then lived in what is now Fayette county, Pennsylvania.'' On
this survey, on February 19, 1754, Governor Dinwiddie granted large bodies
of land about the forks of the Ohio. The question might have been easily
settled then, for Dinwiddie and Governor Hamilton, who succeeded Penn,
were in a friendly correspondence in which both claimed the territory.
The French and Indian war required them to unite their strength, and the

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 6i

contention about it was for a time laid aside. When the question finally
came up many of our best citizens took sides with Virginia, because they
had purchased lands from Virginia, and had come here expecting still to
reside in Virginia.

England had been very successful in founding colonies in America, and
had fostered them in a most royal manner until 1765, when she passed the
Stamp Act. The two colonies which rebelled most violently against this
act were ^Massachusetts and Virginia. So the King of England in 1771
appointed John Murray to be governor of Virginia, a position he had held
before in New York. He cared nothing for the interests of the colonists
if they in any way conflicted with the interests of the King. He was a maa
of strength, but was utterly without character or kindness in his make up..
Many are of the opinion that he was appointed to rule Virginia with an iroa
hand to punish them for opposing the Stamp Act, and for the growing spirit
of dissent and independence so common among her people. John Murray
has been known in history as the Earl of Uunmore. The early pioneers,
knew him as the "hair-buyer", because he paid the Indians for scalping
mothers and babies of the rebellious colonists. It is said that his heartless
design was to give the colonists plenty to do to protect themselves from
the Indians, and thus divert them from the growing feeling of oppositioa
to the mother country. There is little doubt but that during the Revolu-
tiony many colonists were slaughtered by his orders. There are few
names in history more opprobrious in America than Dunmore.

In 1774 Dunmore determined to hold the country surrounding Fort
Pitt as a part of Virginia. To represent him properly he sent an agent
named John Connolly, who was a relative of his, though born in Pennsyl-
vania. Connolly was highly connected by birth and marriage. He had been
on terms of real intimacy with Washington, Gage, Johnson, (Sir William),
Sir Guy Carleton, etc. In January, 1774, he took possession of Pittsburg,
and raised an army along the banks of the Monongahela and Youghiogheny
rivers. He at once changed the name of the fort to Fort Dunmore. He
called the militia together, ostensibly to fight Indians, but in reality ta
fight for Virginia. His army was composed only of the worst men in the
community. In marching through the country they stole horses, and shot
down domestic animals in a wanton spirit of destruction. For these acts
and for his most flagrant usurpation, St. Clair had him arrested and brought
before him as a justice at Ligonier, from which place he was sent to the
new jail in Hannastown. He gave bail, and when released went to
Staunton, Virginia, where Dunmore appointed him a justice, and, on the
supposition that Virginia included this territory, he had a right to act under
this appointment, either in Pittsburg or Hannastown, that is, that they
were both in Augusta county, Virginia. This section was called the West
Augusta district. When he returned with this show of authority he was
mere aggressive and inhuman than ever. Court was to assemble in April

62 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

in Hannastown, and he came there with one hundred fifty armed men. Some
of these he stationed at the door, and refused to allow the justices to
enter. He also had a sheriff appointed to keep the peace. His claim was
that no one could derive any authority from the Provincial government,
this power being lodged in Virginia, the rightful owners of this territory,
and that it was now delegated to him. But the justices stood on their
rights, and were accordingly arrested by Connolly. They refused to enter
bail, whereupon he sent them in irons and under a guard to Staunton,
Virginia, the county seat of Augusta county. Justice Mackay gained per-
mission to go to Williamsburg, the capital of Virginia, to lay the matter
before Dunmore. Shortly after this the imprisoned justices were set free,
and came home. St. Clair reported these outrages regularly to the Penns,
and his correspondence as preserved in the archieves of the state, is the
basis of all history that has yet been written on this subject.

The council of Pennsylvania now sent two representatives — James
Tilghman and Andrew Allen — to Virginia. They were directed to ask that
both Virginia and Pennsylvania petition the King of England to determine
the boundary in dispute, and that till this was done a temporary line be
agreed upon. Dunmore, after hearing them, dismissed them haughtily,
and nothing came of the conference except to make Connolly much more
impudent and oppressive in his action than before.

All this, as may be supposed, greatly unsettled our people. Moreover,
no new settler wanted to locate in such a district, and the price of land was
greatly decreased. Then an Indian outbreak was daily feared. This was
threatened by the Indians, but the objective point of the proposed raid was
Virginia, and not that part of this section which belonged to Pennsylvania,
ior all of the Proprietaries' territory was included in the new purchase of
1768, and the Indians seemed to intend to keep the treaty. Still, with the
boundary in doubt, and the well known treachery of the Indians, there was
^reat fear among the people of even the present Westmoreland territory —
the prospect of being subjugated by the outrages of Connolly on the one
hand, or cut down in one night by an Indian incursion. Furthermore, if
Dunmore and Connolly won, their titles from Pennsylvania would be of no
value, they reasoned. Under this state of affairs many emigrants passed
on through our section, and others left, never to return, or to return only
when peace was effected.

The public men of the county did all in their power to induce the citi-
zens to remain and fight it out. Many farmers, however, did not put out
their spring crops, expecting to be driven from the locality before they
would ripen. Many crops when grown were left unharvested in the fields.
Connolly's bandit gang, seemingly through a spirit of wanton destruction,
had burned fences for miles east of Pittsburg, and live stock had strayed
away or was shot down by this lawless band of pretended soldiers. In
May and June public meetings were held at various places over the country.

HISTORY -VF IVESTMORELAXD COUXTV. 63

to make manifest by petitions to the Governor of Pennsylvania the real
conditions of affairs, and to ask for his assistance. These petitions, in ad-
dition to setting forth the outrageous conduct of Connolly's army, indicated
-a general fear of an Indian outbreak. They came from Allen's block-
house, near the mouth of Crabb Tree, from Fort Shippen, at Sheriff Proctor's,
near Latrobe, from Pittsburg, and from other sections of the country.
O'hey set forth their troubles and distress as indicated above.

The justices, perhaps, became emboldened by being sent home from the
Staunton prison, and at once endeavored to hold court in defiance of
Connolly\ Then his soldiers by his orders broke into their houses and in-
sulted them in every way. This made a demand for a new militia com-
posed of our best people, to unite and resist Connolly's forces. It had
some good results, but still he and Cressaps, his chief lieutenant, rode
roughshod over the country and assaulted men, particularly the justices and
■other conservators of the law. He waylaid a horse laden with gunpowder
sent Ijy William Spear for the use of the settlers. It is hard to overdraw
the situation, if we rely on the reports made at that time. Connolly was
little else than a drunken outlaw, with considerable shrewdness as a leader
of desperadoes. His men were glad to emulate these examples. They had
all the whisky they could drink, and their only duty seemed to be to steal
enough from day to day to subsist on. Dunmore himself came out in
September. He established land offices, though none in this county, set up
courts, etc., and demanded submission on the part of all who resided west
■of Laurel Hill, as the price of peace.

The Proprietaries recognized Arthur St. Clair as the leader in West-
moreland, and left all military defense to him. He at once collected the
militia from all directions, and supplied all the ablebodied farmers with
firearms. His instructions were that they should be ready at the first out-
break to fly to each other's assistance. Stockades and blockhouses were
erected in every settlement when there were sufficient people to justify it.
The old fort at Ligonier was repaired. Among the new ones built were
Fort Shippen, Fort Allen, and one at John Shield's, on the Loyalhanna,
about six miles from Hannastown. St. Clair also raised an organization
at Fort Ligonier called the Rangers. Of these thirty were posted at
Hannastown. twenty at Proctor's, twenty at Ligonier. and the rest, about
forty, were sent to what is now Allegheny county.

St. Clair himself says that hundreds of settlers left the county and re-
turned east. Others, at the first false alarm, would flee from their houses
and take refuge in the forts or blockhouses. He says, further, that it was
shameful, if not cowardly, for the people to flee from Connolly in this way.
St. Clair probably knew better than the people that the threatened Indian
raid was not against this section. On July 11 reports were circulated
that a partv of Indians was seen at or near Hannastown, and another on

64 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUXTV.

the Braddock road, south of that. Pie mounted a swift horse and found
The reports to be unfounded, or, at all events, highly improbable. But he
could not make the people believe it. In twenty miles' ride, he says,
he met no less than two hundred families and two thousand cattle, all en-
route for some fort. Nearly all the residents of Ligonier Valley moved into
the stockade. They too were determined to leave the country. They had
not then cut their harvests, and, had they gone, says St. Clair, they would
undoubtedly have perished with famine.

About this time Dunmore's war was carried west, and the greater part
of the real battling was done in the Ohio valley, near the Kanawha river.
Dunmore, Connolly, Cresap, Simon Girty and Alexander McKee were all
there, and peace reigned in Westmoreland. It also became apparent that
there was no further danger of an Indian outbreak. But very shortly the
war in the southwest ended, and Connolly returned and renewed his hostil-
ities against the magistrates and the people. Even in Pittsburg many
of the settlers contemplated leaving. In November a detachment of his
army came to Hannastown, broke open the jail, and released two>
murderers who were sentenced to be hanged. Another party seized Mr.
Scott, agent of the Penns, and made him give bail to appear at the next
court to be held in Pittsburg for z-\u.gusta county, Virginia. In February,
1775, a raid was made on Hannastown ; they broke open a blacksmith shop
near by, took some large hammers and irons, and broke open the jail. They
released all the prisoners, and told them to clear the country. This party
was under Benjamin Harrison, a son-in-law of Judge Crawford, who opened
the first courts in our county. Judge Hanna remonstrated with them from
his upper window, but the outlaws only jeered him and the sherifif. On
the 25th, Justices Hanna and Cavett, were arrested, for no offense what-
ever but the general one of being magistrates under the Penns, and were
confined at Pittsburg for three months.

The good people of neither Pennsylvania nor Virginia, took part in
these outrages, but each side of the boundary question had its supporters,
and on each side were most excellent people. John Gibson, father of the re-
nowned chief justice of Pennsylvania, John B. Gibson, and a man of the
highest character, sided with Virginia. No better man nor purer patriot
lived than William Crawford, as he afterwards proved by giving his life
in defense of the people. Yet he decidedly sided with Virginia, and when
the Executive Council heard of it they advised the governor to dismiss him
from the office of justice, and it was accordingly done.

Dunmore's war was now about ended, but still darker days were in store
for our early settlers. The winter of 1774-75 was a .very severe one. In
the spring of 1774 crops, as we have explained, were not planted as they
should have been, and many were not harvested, because of the savages and
of Connolly and his men, and through fear of the Indian outbreak. Late
in the fall, when safety was assured, hundreds who had gone east came

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 65

back to Westmoreland, and of necessity came empty handed. All who had
been away, either as soldiers or refugees, had been consumers and not pro-
ducers. The stock of provisions in the county was scarcely large enough
for those who remained, and, when the list of consumers was augmented
by those who returned, famine almost stared them in the face. But the
settlers, with an altruistic spirit which would have done credit to our day,
''ven. divided their scanty store with those who were in distress. Never-
theless many would have starved had it not been for the abundant supply of
wild game in the woods. The actual supply of farm products, corn, rye
and potatoes, was divided around. Yet it was but the beginning of long
years of poverty and gloom, which culminated only with the close of the
Revolutionary war.

Dunmore's war did not in itself settle the boundary line between Penn-
sylvania and Virginia, though there were no further hostilities concerning
i;. Dunmore and Connolly escaped into the British army with the breaking
out of the Revolution. For years the names of both were most thor-
oughly detested among our people. Had the cjuestion in dispute been
left to honorable men, it could have been readily settled, but with a
man like Dunmore proved to be reason was out of the question. Men like
Benjamin Franklin, of Pennsylvania, or Thomas Jefferson, of Virginia.
regarded these boundary disputes, as they were carried on, as unworthy
of the citizens of either Pennsylvania or Virginia. On July 25, 1775, the
delegates in the Continental Congress, among whom were Jefferson,
Franklin and Patrick Henry, united in a circular asking the people of the
disputed territory to use all mutual forbearance possible, and suggested
tb.at neither party should keep armed men. There was really no armed
force except that of Virginia. On August 7, the Virginia convention
directed Captain John Neville with a company of one hundred men to
take charge of Fort Pitt. This was, at least, a display of hostility not
sanctioned by the leading men of Virginia, and it is probable that the action
was taken before the suggestion from the members of congress reached the
\'irginia convention. The Penns, willing to do anything for the sake of
peace, permitted the matter to pass. The Revolution came at once, and
Neville held the fort, not as a Virginian, but rather as an adjunct of the
American army, though at first, at least, he was paid by the colony of Vir-
ginia. He held the fort till 1777, under the direction of the Continental
Congress, and purely in the interests of the colonies. The boundary ques-
tion was forgotten when both Pennsylvania and Virginia were fighting
for freedom in the Revolution. It was afterward brought up by Virginia
and Pennsylvania unitedly and was settled as the Proprietaries always
claimed it should be, in 1779-84, in the following manner: Three Pennsyl-
vanians and two Virginians were appointed to permanently locate tlie
boundary. The agreement was signed August 31, 1779. By its terms they were
5

66 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

to extend the then weU known JMason and Dixon's Line west five degrees
■of longitude from the Delaware river. From the end of this line a line
•directly north to Lake Erie should be our western line or border. It was
further agreed that the rights of all persons should be secure, no matter
in which state they fell, and that, in all disputes as to ownership, preference
should be given to the older right or claim. The agreement was ratified
by Virginia on June 27,, 1780, and by Pennsylvania on September 2t,,
1780, and again, after certain amendments offered by \'irginia, on April
I, 1784. During 1784 the boundaries were surveyed and marked by stones
set up, one every five miles. On the south side of each stone was cut the
letter "V", and on the north side the letter "P". This then, finally and for-
ever settled the boundary question, and, as settled then, it remains today.

CHAPTKR VI

The Indians of Early Westmoreland.

Our early Westmoreland annals are so replete with references to the
Indians that it is highly proper that we should now glance casually at
their tribal history, their leading characteristics, and their modes of life.
All over western Pennsylvania have been found relics in abundance which
prove beyond doubt that they once roamed over our hills in great numbers.
But even without these the beautiful Indian nomenclature of our rivers,
mountains, valleys, counties, and towns, prove their former presence in this
community.

Archaeologists and philologists have alike for a century speculated in
vain as to the origin of this strange and pathetic people. It is idle to pre-
tend that we know more of their early history and origin than that they
were here when Columbus came to America, and that their name was
given them by him because of his well known mistake in geography. Prior
to 1750 Western Pennsylvania was inhabited by the Indian alone. It was
never densely populated by them as we understand density now, for with
their mode of life no section was capable of sustaining more than an e.x-
tremely limited number of inhabitants. As a people they lived very largely
by hunting and fishing. Their women cultivated small patches of corn, a
cereal which has since borne their name, and in addition to this many of
them raised a few vegetables. They also raised large quantities of tobacco.
To this end they cleared small tracts of land here and there, generally on the
alluvial bottoms of large streams, many of which are yet pointed out as
old Indian fields. They knew nothing of fertilizing land and when the soil
was exhausted they abandoned their fields and removed to new sections.
They knew something of the medicinal qualities of roots, herbs and flowers,
which grew in the wildwood, and these they gathered and used in times
of external injury with a considerable degree of success. They subsisted
largely on the meat of wild game and for this reason it required thousands
of acres to support even a small tribe. The land was necessarily public
land so far as the Indians were concerned. A tribe it is true, exercised a
temporary ownership over a certain section, but this' they readily aband-

68 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

oned if a locality more promising for the pursuit of wild game presented
itself, or when fire wood was well nigh exhausted. All Indians were prompt
to help each other in distress. Some families were poor and improvident,
while others were prosperous. Yet while any member of the tribe had food,
the indigent and shiftless did not suffer, and the results of a successful
hunting expedition were shared with their less fortunate friends if they stood
in need of them. Originally they made all their own implements of war-
fare and of the chase. Their bows and arrows were made of wood. The
former were stiffened with the dried tendons and thongs of the deer or
buffalo, and the latter were tipped at the points with flinty stones known in
modern times as arrow-heads. Their bowstrings were of raw-hide made
from the skins of animals. They also made rude axes from stone, and with
these and by the aid of fire, they were able to fell trees and to hollow out
their huge trunks, thus converting them into canoes. However, when first
known to Westmoreland pioneers, they were provided with iron and steel
implements and in part at least, with firearms. Some of these they had
captured or stolen from the whites, others were furnished them by thought-
less and unprincipled traders in return for skins and furs. But the union
formed between the French and Indians and still later between the Eng-
lish and Indians, had aided them still more, in the acquisition of scalping
knives, tomahawks and guns, and also in teaching them how to use these
weapons to the best advantage.

It must not be supposed, however, that the introduction of firearms
among the Indians induced them to abandon the bow and arrow. The best
firearm known or used then was a flintlock which was discharged by a
spark made by a flint in the hammer striking a projection on the gun barrel.
This spark fell into the "pan", where a small amount of powder called
"the priming" was placed after the gun was loaded. When this was ignited
by the spark it communicated its flame with the powder in the gun, and the
latter was instantly discharged. As may be readily imagined, the least
dampness or rain would render the flintlock useless, but not so with the
bow and arrow. This the Indian always kept with him, and so skillful was
he in its use that he rarely ever missed his mark when at short range. In
the hands of an expert Indian it was more to be feared than a firearm, for the
wound -was more painful and the arrow was directed with scarcely less
unerring certainty. Not infrequently has it been found that an arrow from
the bow of a strong armed savage had penetrated and passed entirely
through a large horse or buft'alo. Furthermore, its discharge made no re-
port, and the unwary pioneer or the herd of deer had little or no
knowledge of the whereabouts of their hidden enemy. It was a weapon,
indeed, peculiarly suited to an enemy whose strength lay largely in the
stealthy manner in which he approached his foe. It was used by the In-
dians in all of our earlier wars with them. In General St. Clair's battle

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 69

with the Indians in 1791 it is on record that the arrow wounds were
more galling and more feared by the American troops than the wounds
from gun shots.

The Indians inhabiting the eastern part of the United States with whom
our early settlers came most in contact are usually designated as the
"Six Nations," viz. : the Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas, Senecas
and Tuscaroras. Each of these nations had a rude form of government,
and their unwritten laws were well understood by the Indians and were
binding even on the humblest members of the race. Francis Parkman says
that they lived together by thousands with a harmony which civilized
nations might envy. Each of these six nations was composed of smaller
tribes of from two to five hundred members. These tribes were separated
widely from each other, so that each could have unbounded miles of hunt-
ing territory. Each tribe had its chief, who exercised great power over
all his subjects. On the death of the chief the office did not generally
descend to his son, but to his sister's son or to the dead chief's brother.
But if t'ne rightful heir was a weakling or a coward, or was otherwise in-
capacitated for leadership, the tribe did not hesitate to discard him and
Sflect another. The son of a chief, while he could not inherit the office
from his fati.er, could earn it by deeds of daring courage. Capt. John
Smith discovered and made a note of these customs even in his day among
the early tribe.-, of \"irginia.

They had a marriage ceremony which was generally celebrated with
songs and dances, and their marital relations were comparatively well kept,
though divorce was obtainable on the arbitrary caprice of either party.
The relationship of father, grandfather, cousin, nephew, etc., were clearly
defined among them, and no Indian youth was allowed to marry a squaw
of his own immediate tribe, because of the possible relationship which
might exist between them. The average Indian was tall and straight with
rough features, high cheek bones, Roman or aquiline nose, coarse straight
black hair, dark penetrating eyes and beardless face. He had a swarthy
complexion, much darker than the darkest of our race, which had a tinge
of red or brown in it, and this gave him the well known name of red
skin, thought it is at best something of a misnomer.

The Indian has been widely represented as of a silent and morose dis-
position, and this, says Washington Irving, is in some degree erroneous.
When alone in helpless captivity among the whites, whose language he did
not understand and whose motives he distrusted, he was invariably taciturn
but certainly not more so than the white man would have been under like
circumstances. Parkman describes them as continuously visiting, chat-
ting, joking and bantering each other with sharp witticism. When among
themselves in their smoky wigwams or around their blazing camp fires,
they were exceedingly loquacious and mirthful. Deeds of valor, feats of

70 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

strength and agility, narrow escapes from captivity and death when on the
war path, the successes or failures of the last hunting expedition, and amus-
ing incidents at the expense of the white man, constituted very largely the
younger Indian's conversation, while the older members of the race regaled
the youthful warriors with the oft-repeated heroic tales of incidents long
gone by.

The average Indian had, indeed, more endurance, and could run faster
than the average white man, for his entire life's training tended to fortify
him in these feats of strength; while, on the other hand, the heavy labor
incident to pioneer life destroyed the white man's fleetness of foot, and
rendered him less agile and less able to cope with his Indian enemy in this
direction. In war, when equally opposed, the Indian was almost invincible.
He never of his own volition fought in the open, but took advantage of
every possible method of ambuscade. Familiar with all phases of forest
life, he sought to match the superior numbers or strength of his enemy by
a thorough concealment of his own whereabouts in battle. The military
training of tlie English and American soldiers stood for but little when
confronted by a foe who could fire and almost instantly disappear from
view. Indeed, the serried columns of the drillmaster rather assisted the
Indian in ambush, and only when his methods of warfare were learned and
somewhat adopted was the American soldier even comparatively success-
ful in his contests with him. The Indian did not adopt this method through
fear or cowardice, for when forced to fight at bay he proved himself not
lacking in bravery by fighting with a desperation found only in infuriated
wild beasts. His leading principle in warfare was self-preservation. He
thought it foolhardy to needlessly expose himself in battle, as foolhardy as
though the contest were between himself and a ferocious animal. His war
parties only received the highest meed of praise when they returned not
only with an abundance of scalps but without the less of a warrior. He
employed every subterfuge and stratagem possible with him to entice the
white man into danger. He so successfully imitated the gobble of the
wild turkey that the unsuspecting hunter was lured within reach of his
arrow. He removed the bell from a domestic animal and by gently shaking
it enticed the pioneer or his children to his hiding place and to captivity
or death. His people had for centuries hunted wild animals by stealth
and he adopted the same methods of ridding himself from the new and
more dangerous enemy which, in countless numbers, came upon him from
the East.

When 'first known to the white man they were not necessarily a savage
race. They went to war among themselves, but were not particularly
hostile to our people until we began to displace them and to interfere, as
they thought, with their vested rights in the natural products of the
wilderness. They thought it their duty to exterminate the white man, and

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 71

the latter thought it no greater crime to kill an Indian than a rattlesnake.
If he seldom ever spared the life of a wounded or conquered adversary
the Indian, on the other hand, asked no quarter when he himself was taken
captive. It is quite probable that for obvious reasons, the early settler in
his combats with the Indians met oftenest the larger and stronger speci-
mens of the tribe. This led to the impression that they were as a race phy-
sically much superior to our own. This is entirely erroneous. Our mert
compared well with them in size and strength, and, considering all circum-
stances, there-was perhaps but little advantage on either side. Our women
were, all things considered, equal to theirs in strength, and greatly superior
to them in physical beauty. The attractive Indian maiden of modern fiction
is a poetical creation rather than one found in real life. The Indian womah
was homely, and one of average comeliness was a rare exception, and this
quality the race has preserved even to this day. But the Indian standards
of aesthetics differed from ours, and to his eye the maiden of his race may
have been richly dowered with personal loveliness and beauty.

Of the smaller tribes the ones most commonly known to our early
pioneers were the Cornplanters, Delawares, Cherokees, Mingoes, Shawnees.
Munsies, Hurons, Ojibwas, JMiamis, Pottowatamies, etc., and some of them
are yet represented in the remnant Indian tribes of the west. The Indian
incursions made on our early Westmoreland settlers invariably originated
with one or more of the tribes above mentioned. They were then scattered
all over the countrv west of the Susquehanna and north of the Ohio
rivers, with a few stragglers farther south and east. The Cornplanters and
the Delawares were the tribes with whom our early settlers came most in
contact.

The Indians built towns, but not as places of permanent abode, for the
reason that they were compelled to wander over a large territory and often
to remove when game was scarce, from one locality to another to subsist
at all. They lived in small houses made of poles, and covered with the skins
of animals and with the bark of trees to protect them from the cold and
rain. These houses were called wigwams. They were generally circular
in shape at the ground, and the poles, standing on their ends, were drawn
nearly together at the top, thus presenting a conical form, with a small
opening at the apex for the emission of smoke. The conical shape of the
wigwam made it less liable to be blown over by the storm. In our part of
the state each family had a separate wigwam, though in some tribes several
families lived in the same habitation. They usually built their wigwams
in a valley or on the sheltered side of a mountain cr hill, and near to
a good stream of water. Sometimes the wigwams were long and narrow,
even as long as one hundred feet or more, and each one served for many
families. There was always an opening at the top for the escape of smoke,
but they were invariably filled with soot. Living almost constantly in,

72

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

smoke, many of the Indians had inflamed eyes in winter time, and a result-
ant blindness in old age was not infrequent. They had rude fortifications
around their towns made by digging trenches and surmounting the ground
thrown from them by logs, stones, bark, etc. In these rude habitations they
cooked, ate and slept in the winter time, using leaves and dried, twigs
covered with the skins of animals for beds. The wigwams were so poorly
constructed that they decayed and were gone in a few years after they
were abandoned.

The white race in Western Pennsylvania practically came first in con-
tact with the Indians in purchasing furs and skins from them. The Indian
was naturally a child of the wilderness, and excelled in hunting wild an-
imals. As a result the Indian towns abounded with the skins of the buffalo,
bear, deer, wolf, beaver, otter, mink, fox, raccoon, etc. They shot these
animals with bows and arrows or with firearms. They speared fish, or
caught them with rude hooks made of bone, or drove them into ponds
screened with small rods. They also fished with rude nets, made from the
twisted fiber of wild hemp. Both animals and. fish and all game birds
were then extremely plentifv^. The life the Indian led had developed his
senses of sight, hearing and smell to a degree which amazed even the
shrewdest woodsman among our early settlers. He knew the habits of all
wild animals, and could detect their slightest movements in the forests,
movements invisible to the eye of one unaccustomed to the woods. With
these qualities he easily surpassed the average hunter in procuring skins
and furs and wild game.

Upon the women of the tribe devolved all the hard labor, including rais-
ing corn, skinning wild animals and carrying heavy burdens of skins and
dried meat when they were making long journeys. Their squaws were
at best little better than beasts of burden. Their hard lives shriveled them
and made them appear older than their years. They were hideous, neglect-
ed and despised in latter years, and, as a result, became more fierce, cruel
and vindictive than were the men of the tribe. In explanation of this cus-
tom concerning the Indian women it may be said .that such duties were
invariably performed by women in all nations of the world when in that
stage of civilization. Their Indian household duties, as may be readily
imagined, were necessarily very few. The warrior, whether hunting wild
animals or on the warpath, needed agility, a steady nerve, and great
strength above all things else, and these would all have been impaired by
hard labor or by carrying heavy burdens. The Indian boy. was taught
from childhood to run, jump, swim, fish, shoot and fight, but not to
work. They were taught to go hungry and endure all manner of hardships
and pain without complaint, preparing them in that way for what they
might expect in after life. With such training it is not to be wondered at
that he scorned and laughed at the wails of agony of his victim who felt

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 73

the flames creeping around his quivering flesh, while he himself endured
such pain in silence and with a fortitude worthy at least of the proverbial
stocism of the Grecian philosopher. The Indian lived with ease some-
times, but more often his nomadic life was attended with great hardships
and privations. Only when the weather was pleasant, and when wild
berries, fruits and nuts were plentiful and when the forest abounded with
game, was his life one of comparative ease. They were forced sometimes to
live on the roots, bark and buds of trees, and even cannibalism was not
by any means unknown among them.

Leading a lonely life in the wilderness the Indian became a close ob-
server of the phenomena of nature. He had studied the heavens for signs
of rain and clear weather, and so mastered them that his forecasting was
almost unerring. Long before he knew the white man he had discovered
that there were four seasons which regularly followed each other each
year, and he had discovered further that these four periods were measured
by thirteen moons. By moons he accurately counted his own age and the
ages of his children, and kept account of the noted events in his monotonous
life. All this was kept in his mind purely, for the race had no method of
writing or of physically preserving a record of events. Resultant upon
this we have no account or history of the Indians as kept by themselves.
^^^e can form a fair estimate of the Indian character only by remembering
that the heartrending tales of his inhumanities have been written almost
solely by his enemies. His lips were sealed as to his side of the difficulties,
for he could neither speak nor write his defense in a language which we
could understand. Their traditions, customs and laws were preserved in
memory and transmitted orally, and they consequently perished almost en-
tirely with the illfated race. Stone implements, battle axes, tomahawks,
P'pes. arrow and spearheads have survived the ravages of time, and are
almost the only tangible evidences left by the Indian of his long dominion
in Pennsylvania.

The Indians did not recognize any special diff"erence between an
animal and a human being, be he red or white. When killing an animal
he frequently performed incantations over its body to appease its spirit
so that it. or the spirit of surviving animals, would not become hostile
to him or his people. He killed animals only for their skin or flesh or in
self defense in ridding himself of dangerous beasts. The wanton destruction
of wild animals was unknown to the Indian. The average Indian killed a
white man as readily as an animal, for the former he regarded as his
mortal enemy. Murder among the Indians was very rare, and the crime
was seldom punished by public authority. The murderer and his friends
were forced to give presents, sometimes of considerable value, to the rep-
resentatives of the unfortunate Indian who had been killed. Where pres-
ents were refused by the dead man's family the murderer was given over

^4 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

to them as a slave, and he was made to hunt or fish for them and to assist
them in their support. The presents given by a murderer consisted of
corn or growing corn, skins, guns, bows and arrows, and objects of adorn-
ment. From twenty to thirty presents were considered a good recompense
for the murder of an Indian man. The murder of woman, because of
her helplessness, demanded more presents from the murderer than that
of a man. Her life was moreover more necessary for the increase of the
Indian race than that of a man, hence a greater number of presents must
be given to atone for it. Stealing was more common among them, and was
punished by allowing the injured party not only to retake the goods stolen
by force, but to take from the robber all the property he possessed. For
treason, or betraying his tribe in any way, the oilender was put to death,
the chief of the tribe usually appointing an Indian to stealthily shoot
him.

They had dogs in our section, but no other domestic animals. They did
not have horses until they secured them from the pioneers, and very few
were used by them here. This was probably because they were inhabiting
a mountainous wilderness unsuited by nature for horseback riding. The
riiuch vaunted Indian feats of horsemanship were confined almost en-
tirely to the boundless prairies of the West. Their long journeys were
performed on foot or in canoes. Thty had trails or paths through the
dense forests and over mountain chains on which they journeyed, con-
forming in many instances to our modern highways, but which will be
treated elsewhere in these pages. The Indians also travelled a great deal
on water, particularly in the lake regions. Though they made canoes by
hollowing out logs, they were cumbersome at best, and a canoe made of
birch bark was perhaps the favorite one in Indian navigation. They had
learned to calk the cracks or joints with the exudations of the pine tree and
make them perfectly water-proof. They also made canoes from the skins
of animals, and even as late as 1832 Washington Irving, in his "Tour of the
Prairies," speaks of crossing streams in the west in buffalo skin canoes.
In these frail barks they floated up and down our iimpid streams, dreaming
not that better methods of navigation near at hand would soon appear to
force them from their hunting grounds and, in the end, practically work the
extermination of the whole Indian race.

Though the Indians were naturally a strong athletic race, capable of
great endurance and inured to all manner of hardships, they did not in-
crease rapidly in number. Their poorly constructed habitations, the
necessary unsanitary condition of such homes, and their wandering disposi-
tion superinduced a great mortality among their children and, perhaps,
only the stronger ones survived. This, with their habitual outdoor life,
accounted in a great measure for the unusual strength and vitality of the
Indian warrior. Living as they did, they were almost necessarily filthy in

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

75'

their habits, and as a result were greatly subjected to infestious diseases,
such as fever and small pox. When these diseases broke out they were ex-
tremely destructive to the race, for they 'had little knowledge of how to treat
them successfully. They believed that all sickness was the result of an evil
spirit which pervaded the sick man, and the Indian doctors sought by
signs, magic, and hideous noises to drive the demon from his patient. The
result of such treatment may be readily imagined.

They had crude forms of religion; they believed in "Manitou," a Great
Spirit which ruled the heavens and earth, and with whom both good and bad
Indians should live and hunt after death, for they were thorough Univer-
salists. They believed, however, in a distinction between the final home of
a good, brave warrior on the one hand, and that of the cowardh', lazy
Indian, on the other ; the latter they thought would be compelled to eat
serpents and ashes in a gloomy division of the next world. In keeping with
their general belief, they thought animals would in the next world be ad-
mitted on equal terms with Indians. They believed that the Great Spirit
sometimes endowed minor spirits with certain special powers. This belief
saved many a white man's life. If they once believed that a prisoner had
some special connection with the Great Spirit, his life was safe. Their sys-
tem of worship was with song and dance, and every great undertaking, such
as going on an extended hunt or on the war path, was begun with some
ceremony of this kind. A similar ceremony ended the expedition, the first
to please the Great Spirit, to induce him to favor their cause, and the
second to in a measure express their gratitude for favors granted. But
those who have investigated the subject of religion among the primitive
Indians bfelieve that they had no conception of a Supreme Being until they
came in contact with civilized white men. The first missionaries among
them, who were Jesuit priests, found no word in their language to express
our idea of God, and the common opinion is that the idea of the primitive
red man worshipping a Great Spirit before he was taught to do so by
the advent of Christianity from Europe, originated and had existence only
in the brains of sentimental writers and in the idle dreams of poets.

A leading characteristic of the Indian was his inability to forgive or
forget an injury done him by the white race, yet, on the other hand he
has been credited with being equally mindful of favors shown him. With
his understanding of the early settlers' encroachment upon his territory,
he was as Ishmael, who thought that every man's hand was against him.
The pioneer was slowly but surely working his exclusion, and his vindic-
tive wrath was indiscriminately meted out against all pale-faces. Too often
it fell with great severity on the innocent and unoffending and on the guilty
alike.

Alorally they did not compare with our race by any means, and should
not be expected to do so, for we have had the advantages of centuries of civ-

76 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

ilization and education. But if we compare them with our own race,
when, as a race, we had reached the stage in which we found the Indian,
the only fair comparison, they undoubtedly equal us. If the reader of
these pages is astonished at this statement on recalling the cruel manner
in which the Indian dealt with his supposed white enemy when in helpless
captivity, let him remember that it is but a few generations since the ablest
and best of the English speaking people were tortured on the rack, confined
in dungeons, mutilated, and burned at the stake, by the decree of the
highest tribunal in English civilization, and that even in Massachusetts
innocent men and women were burned for witchcraft. And these bar-
barities were committed not by unlettered savages, but by a people who
were making history, writing poetry, and building cities and palaces which
stand to this day and command the admiration of the world.

The Indian had, indeed, many bad traits, but those who labored long
among them as missionaries, or who were long held captive by them,
generally saw much good in them, and became greatly attached to them.
They were not originally the treacherous race they have lately been re-
puted to be. Few men of our later history have fought the Indians more
valiantly or more successfully than General William Henry Harrison,
yet he in after years bore this testimony concerning them : "A long and
intimate knowledge of the Delaware tribe, in peace and in war, as enemies
and as friends, has left upon my mind the most favorable impressions of
their character for bravery, generosity and fidelity to their engagements."
In many cases, even in our own county, the Indian divided his scanty food
with the early settlers, and in some instances saved them from starvation.

When first known to the whites they knew nothing of intoxicants
nor even the simplest form of fermentation or distillation. They smoked
tobacco, and taught the habit to Sir Walter Raleigh, who introduced it in
England, but this was their nearest approach to a stimulant or a narcotic.
Our people soon taught them the use of liquor, and most bitterly did both
races suffer from it. They took to rum almost intuitively, and it seemed
to arouse only the baser principles of their nature. They would part
with their finest furs to secure a taste of rum, and this exhorbitant appetite
in the end perhaps did more than anything else to rob them of their
vigor and reason, and finally of all lands they possessed.

A strong trait of Indian character was his love of bright colors and
ornamentation. He painted his face and body, wore ornaments in his
ears and nose, and dressed his hair with bright feathers and his rude deer-
hide garments with fringe. It has been supposed that this originated as
a means of protection, for, when in a dense wilderness, clothed only by the
skins of animals without some bright colors or ornamentation, he might
easily have been the victim of an arrow intended for a wild animal. But
so long did they thus array themselves that it became a passion with

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. yj

them, from which they have never been able to divest themselves. A
youth may be educated away from his people, yet upon his first opportu-
nity he most likely again resumes the garb of his tribe, and is generally
discontented with any other than the Indian life. The Secretary of the
Interior some years ago sent dark clothes to a western tribe, which after
the fashion of that day were lined with red and white barred material.
\'isiting them shortly afterward he noticed that they had uniformly turned
their garments wrong side out, so that they might display the bright
colored linings. Less than any other members of the human family do
they seem able to discard their hereditary customs. As a result, it has
been found almost impossible to civilize them or to induce them to engage
in the habits and callings of our enlightened age.

The early settlers in America found the Indian in undisputed posses-
sion of a land of singular beauty and of great fertility and natural wealth.
To dispossess him of his hunting grounds was to incur his undying hatred
and wrath. To suffer him to remain precluded the possibility of our pres-
ent civilization, for the interests of the two races were directly opposite
to each other. The Indian could subsist only in an unbounded wilderness ;
the white man's sole ambition was to conquer the forest, to tame and im-
prove the wild lands, and make them contribute to his welfare. It was the
Indian's misfortune that he was contented to lead only an idle and un-
civilized life; that he in his make-up was entirely void of ambition, progress
and industry, and that he could not or would not improve the country which
he inhabited. The white man, on the other hand, was contented only
with improvement, and was most happy when living on the products of his
own labor. This same peculiarly unfortunate situation confronted the early
settler in our county as well as elsewhere. Had the Indian not been dis-
possessed, our county would perhaps to this day have been covered with
its primeval forest and inhabited mainly by Indians and wild animals.
It was inevitable, therefore, that, for our present civilization, the Indian
should be gradually driven back. Before the aggressive white man, filled
with industry and ambition, the indolent Indian slowly followed the
setting sun until his course has been almost a direct retreat from the
Atlantic to the Pacific ocean. And with this westward march he was
gradually blighted until his once powerful race has now almost perished
from the earth.

The most humane methods in dealing with the Indians in dispossessing
them of their land may not always, indeed, may not generally, have been
adopted by our ancestors. Gen. Jeffery Amherst suggested to Col. Bouquet to
try to inoculate the Westmoreland Indians with small pox by means of
blankets, and the latter, whom even,' one reveres, replied that he would do
so, and that he regretted only that he could not adopt the Spanish method of
hunting them with English dogs. In this connection, before we censure them

j8 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

it should be remembered that they were a sturdy, industrious people, not
lacking in intellect, nor in the cardinal virtues of charity, affection and
honor, and that they were surrounded by obstacles which cannot be
appreciated by our present generation. They doubtless dealt with the
Indians as they thoirght the exigencies of the time demanded. On the
question as to whose dominion, that of the Indian or the white man, in
the Western hemisphere, was fraught with the greatest benefit to the
human family, there can certainly be no two opinions.

CHAPTER VII

Early Indian Troubles. — Places of Refuge. — Forls.^Stockades. — Block Houses.^Cabins.
— Indian Stories.

It must always be remembered that the EngHsh soldiers and the Indians
were not the only enemies the ^^'estmoreland pioneers had to contend
against. They were harrassed on all sides by the Indians, who were urged
on by the English who formed alliances with them in every section possible.
This may have been considered legitimate warfare, on the theory that any-
thing which would weaken and sap strength from the enemy was legitimate.
It is probable, also, that the English government at home never knew
the inhuman results of their alliances with the Indians. The idea that the
Crown authorized or knowingly sanctioned the butchery of innocent women
and children, in that age of the world, is abhorrent to human reason, and,
indeed it is at war with the established reputation of the English people.

In addition to these enemies were a few disreputable white men who
allied themselves with the Indians and became leaders more brutal than the
most savage of their tribe. These men left civilization, joined various
tribes, and adopted their mode of life and warfare. What induced them to
do this, can never be definitely known. In some cases it is known that de-
serters from the American army who were afraid to return, and being like-
wise outcasts from their home communities, went over to the English, or,
perhaps, to the Indians. But most likely their actions were mostly due to
the alluring rewards offered on the part of British officers for scalps. At all
events they were more dangerous to the white settlers than the Indians,
because they knew the weak points of the settlement, knew the territory,
and knew more about the individual bravery or weakness of the settler,
than the Indians did. When, therefore, a band of Indians under the leader-
ship of one of these infuriated wretches actuated by their inborn hatred of
the American pioneer, came down upon a settlement, it was indeed a most
formidable and blood-thirsty onslaught. The white leaders, moreover, had
-great power over the Indians, more indeed than Indian leaders generally
had themselves. They could, with a word, release a prisoner at the stake,
around whose naked limbs the fire was slowly creeping, or could have him

8o HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

stripped, tied to a tree, and slowly tortured to death, as they wished or
ordered. The Indians cared little for the gold of the English, but they were
willing to commit any outrage for bright beads, blankets and rum, while
the renegade whites cared nothing for these, but took the English gold as
their share of the booty. A great deal of our trouble in Westmoreland
county was traceable to these outlaws. Their names for generations have
been held in abhorrence by the pioneers and their descendents.

There were three conspicuous men among these outlaw leaders who
surpassed all others. They were Simon Girty, Alexander McKee and
Matthew Elliott, and by far the most inhuman of these was the former.
Though one hundred twenty-five eventful years have passed since his evil
deeds were perpetrated, yet his name is still a name of infamy. He had
adopted the life of the Mingoes, with whom he generally associated, though
■ he associated with other tribes, and wherever he went he was a leader. He
knew the Westmoreland people, its houses, strength, places of refuge, etc.,
as well as any one in the county, and was therefore not likely to lead the
Indians into a stronghold where they might be captured. He had been
a trapper, and later a trader among the Indians of the Ohio valley, and
mention is made of him in some of the early writings in this capacity as
early as 1749. He was a shining light in the bandit gang known as
"Dunmore's Army" and at Hannastown was second in command after
Connolly. He led the ga.ig to Hannastown when the jail w.is opened and
the prisonerr released. He worked all over Western Pennsylvania and
Ohio, and led more incursions in Westmoreland county than any other. He
was utterly without feeling of pity. When Colonel William Crawford, our
first judge, was being burned at the stake, the Indians having first cut off
his ears and nose, he saw Girty, whom he knew quite Vv'ell, among his
tormenters. In the agony of despair he cried, "shoot me, Simon ; shoot me,
to end my sufferings," and Girty tauntingly replied, "I can't, I have no
gun," though he held a gun in his hands all the time. McKee operated
less here than Girty, and Elliott less than either of them. Neither of
them was as brutal as Girty. McKee had formerly acquired land in the
region of Pittsburgh, and was then a man of average standing in the com-
munity. He had been a justice of the peace and of our early ccurts when
the county was formed, and for some years was a respectable member of
the court and of society. He forsook the white race and, like Girty, com-
mitted acts of brutality which have forever consigned his name to infancy.
These briefly referred to border troubles made it necessary for our west-
ern people to protect themselves by garrisons and militia, and often to
call for aid from the Colonial army. They explain why the county, large as
it was then, furnished so few troops for the main army, in comparison with
the same population in the New England states. When the family of
a settler needed his daily protection at home, he could not be expected to

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 81

leave them and enlist in the general cause against Great Britain. It ex-
plains also why it was necessary to build and repair our forts during the
Revolution, though the real field of the Revolutionary war was several hun-
dred miles from us. These forts and the armed soldiers within were
indispensable. When a forray was made by the Indians into any settle-
ment, the people ran for their lives to the nearest blockhouse, or fort. Even
though they were able when within a blockhouse to defend themselves,
starvation would soon have compelled them to surrender. But a swift
riding messenger could soon communicate with the nearest garrison,
whose soldiers were ready at all times to hasten to their relief. This was
done times without number, as the reader will see later on. Without
these garrisoned forts to draw upon, our early settlements would have
been literally devastated, and our people either murdered or driven east of
the Allegheny mountains. And it must also be remembered that these
garrisons were w-eak, and at best but poorly equipped, though they were
as strong as the new government, struggling for its first foothold, could
attord.

There were four structures built by our pioneer ancestors for defense
against the Indians, or any other attacking party. They were called forts,
blockhouses, blockhouse cabins, and stockades. When either of the first
two had a stockade in addition, it was properly called a stockade fort or
stockade blockhouse ; blockhouses were often called forts, and perhaps the
general resemblance and method of construction warranted this somewhat
extravagant designation. A first-class fort was usually surrounded by a
stockade; a blockhouse was not very securely guarded. A block-
house was generally made of heavy logs, and in construction did not
differ materially from the log houses of the last century, which all have
seen but which are rapidly passing away. The logs used were very heavy,
to give strength to the building, and were generally unhewn. A blockhouse
was often large enough to accommodate many families in times of
distress. The first story was made from nine to eleven feet high. Then
another story was begun on top of the first, but the logs of the second
story extended several feet (generally about five) beyond the lower story.
By this projecting second story, if Indians were to attack the lower story„
they could be shot from above. The upper story was made six or seven
feet high, and had in its walls port holes through which to fire at the at-
tacking party. This was only a place of refuge in time of Indian incursions
and not designed as a place of permanent abode.

Blockhouses were often constructed by the neighbors, who went to-
gether, felled the timber, and thus erected a place of public safety. They
were not built strong enough to resist an attack made by an enemy
with heavy guns. They were easily a splendid barrier against the Indians,,
whose implements of warfare were almost exclusively confined to muskets.

82 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

or rifles, bows and arrows, tomahawks and scalping knives. The English
government generally built forts, and most of them were stockade forts.
They were more substantially built than blockhouses, and were strong
■enough to resist an attack of the heaviest guns, as heavy guns were then.
They would, of course, be mere kindling wood as against the heavy guns of
today.

All forts or blockhouses or stockade forts built by the English were
constructed under the supervision of their best engineers, according to
the methods laid down by the best authorities on military tactics, or the best
that were practicable in a new country. Accurate drawings and pictures
of these fortresses were made by the engineers and sent to the war depart-
ment of England and carefully filed away. The same method was after-
ward pursued by the Colonial army, so that we have in the English and
American archives accurate drawings of these structures. The stockade
of a stockade fort surrounded the fort, or blockhouse proper. All in
this section were made of logs.

Fort Ligonier was the first fort built by the English west of the Alle-
ghenv mountains. It was built, as has been seen by Forbes' army, in 1758.
Its construction was determined by Colonel Henry Bouquet, and superin-
tended by Colonel James Burd. It was not completed at that time by the
English, but was subsequently finished after the manner designed by them
by our early military forces. The place of its location was well
selected, since there was on the south side a rocky blufif, or almost
perpendicular wall of projecting rocks between the fort and the Loyal-
hanna creek. This afforded a natural barrier against any approach from the
south. The fort at its highest point was ninety-four feet above the water
of the creek. It was also fortified to a great extent on the north side, for
there lay a deep ravine from a strong spring to the east. These natural
fortifications are yet visible. The stockade was in the main about one
hundred feet square, with large diamond shaped extensions on each cor-
ner, so that, through loop-holes, a soldier within the enclosure of the
stockade could fire on an enemy who might be attempting to scale the
stockade. The stockade was made of logs from ten to twelve feet long,
and set firmly in the ground. These logs were generally split and the flat
surface turned outward. These were called palisades, and were set in the
■ground so closely that they touched each other. They were reinforced by
others which were set so as to close the spaces that might be made by the
logs not fitting together exactly, and, to add strength to the structure.
Strong timbers were .fastened to the palisades near the tops, and these were
thoroughly pinned together. In that part of the fort which was most likely
to be attacked, this horizontal log was reinforced by others, all thoroughly
braced and held in place by strong brace timbers reaching to the ground.
On the outside earth was thrown up against these posts, and this made a

84 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

ditch which practically g-ave an additional height to the stockades. The
enclosure thus made was a space over one hundred feet square, while the
circumference made by the palisades was over five hundred feet long, this
being due to the projecting corners. Within this enclosure were the of-
ficers' quarters, while outside were the soldiers' cabins. In time of a siege,
which frequently happened at Ligonier, soldiers, settlers and officers
were all within the stockade. At each angle of the stockade were mounted
caimon. \Yithin the stockade were also the storerooms, powder maga-'
zines, etc. A covered way led from the east side of the fort to the
spring, and the ravine was marked as crossed by a foot log. This covered
way was made of shorter logs, and was necessary in times of a siege. It
gave rise to a popular belief that there was a tunnel extending down to
the Loyalhanna. There has never been any evidence of a tunnel discovered^,
save a few cavities in the rocks overhanging the creek and these extend intO:
the hill but a few feet. It is not supposed that an underground tunnel
would be made and not reported or outlined on the map or plan, for the Eng-'
lish did not generally report less than they did. There was also a gate, made
of strong logs, like the posts of the stockade, firmly fastened together, and
hung on immense iron hinges. This in times of danger was kept closed
and bolted. The gate was on the east side. For many years it was kept up
by the English army, and when Independence was declared in 1776, the
Colonial army took charge of it, and it was yet a place of safety to all the
surrounding settlers.

There was also a new fort built at Ligonier during the Revolution, when
the old one was badly decayed. It has been called Fort Preservation and was
down by the bank of the creek, for the accounts of it represent that a canal from
the creek filled the ditch surrounding the fort with water. It was a small affair
compared with the old fort and even its exact location is not known. It was
probably built entirely by the pioneers of that locality and hence we have no
draft of it.

The garrison was very useful, indeed indispensable, to the early settlers
of the valley. Those who lived near enough to the fort could at anytime
call the soldiers of the garrison out to protect them, by blowing on large
horns. These, when properly winded by the settler or his wife, could be
heard two miles or more. With the first sound of a horn the mounted
soldiers hastened to their relief. In this way many Indian raiders were
frightened away, or deterred from committing depredations and many a
family was protected.

Perhaps a still more comrhon method of defense was in what was called
blockhouse cabins. Sometimes they were called stations, and perhaps-
sometimes forts, or blockhouses, but they were properly neither. They were
strongly built log houses, with heavy doors, and heavy covering for the
windows, which could be put up and barred from the inside. In the

HISTORY. -OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 85

gables were cracks which admitted light and air. A\'hen built after the'
fashion of the pioneer, they could withstand a long siege from the Indians
on the outside. There were rifle holes on every side, and the Indian who
thought he could approach them with any degree of safety was generally
a dead Indian before any damage was done. Two or three dozen people
could be reasonably secure in one of these cabins, and, armed with a few
flintlock guns, were easily able to cope with twice their number of savages.
Hannastown, thcaigh in Hempfield township, where the settlers were
nearly all Pennsylvania Dutch, was settled by Robert Hanna and his
friends, and they were nearly all Irish or Scotch-Irish. In 1774. the first
year after it became the county seat of the new county. Hanna and his
neighbors joined together and hurriedly put up a fort. This was necessary
not only through fear of the Indians, but through fear of Dunmore's ma-
rauders as well. It was a large two-roomed log house, with only one door,
and no windows \\-hatever in the upper story. The only light came from
small holes in the upper story, through which the barrel of a musket could
be aimed at an Indian. It had a flat or nearly flat roof to prevent the
Indians from firing it from the outside. It was additionally strengthened
by palisades which surrounded it, made after the fashion of the one above
described at Fort Ligonier. The upper story was higher than the tops of
the palisades, so that they could be defended from the inner fort. The
structure of 1774 was but a temporary affair, but in 1776 it was greatly
strengthened, and was of great service. Its construction was superintended
by David Semple, and for this service the minutes of the supreme executive
council show he was paid twenty pounds. After its extension and improve-
ment it included a store-house, where the private property of the frightened
settlers could be stored. It will be remembered that this fort was half way
between Fort Ligonier and Fort Duquesne, and in transporting provisions,,
ammunition, etc., from the east, it became a very important stopping place.
From 1776 it was very frequently filled with families of the neighborhood,
who were thus forced to take refuge from the Indians. It was not for several
years attacked, for the reason of the strength of its garrison. During
all these years there were either soldiers of the Continental army or mili-
tia stationed there all the time. This was, however, a force not by any means
sufficient for the preservation of peace, as may be seen from a letter from
Col. Archibald Laughry to President Reed, of the supreme executive coun-
cil. In it he says that "the savages are continually making depredations
among us ; not less than forty people have been killed, wounded or capti-
vated this spring, and the enemy have killed our creatures within three
hundred yards of this town." This is dated at Hannastown, ^lay I, 1779.
On June i, 1780, he wrote to President Reed saying, "I have been imder the
necessity' of removing the public records from Hannastown to my own
plantation, not without the consent of the judge of the court."

85 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

Miller's Station, sometimeg erroneously called Miller's Fort, was another
very important one to this region. It was located about three miles south-
east from Hannastown, and one mile west from the present George sta-
tion, on the Penns\'lvania Railroad. It was named after Captain Samuel
Miller, a farmer who had taken up land there and was one of the leading
men of his limited section. He is mentioned hereafter as one of the cap-
tains of the Eighth Pennsylvania Regiment. With his regiment he came
here from \'alley Forge in February, 1778, and was killed by the Indians
July 7. His house was a plain substantial log house, and, being strongly
built, became a rendevous for the surrounding neighbors in time of danger.
It was probably only resorted to by those who could not reach strongly
fortified places. Gathered there from time to time were men of daring
courage who were able to resist any attack on the part of the Indians unless
they were greatly outnumbered. It was a two-roomed log h'ouse, and was
a fair specimen of the blockhouse cabin.

Often when Indians had been seen lurking in the community, or per-
haps when a false alarm had been spread through the country, the inhabi-
tants would gather at these cabins and spend the night, resuming their
work the day following in the fields. Their protection depended more in-
their united strength than on the strength of the cabin in which they
were collected. Men, women and children were from time to time col-
lected in these places of refuge. The women of that day were enured to
the hardships of frontier life, and in these times of danger readily performed
very important services. They could, from much practice, dress the
wounds of those who were shot, and knew the herbs of the fields which
would, when brewed, cure or allay the suffering of their injured defenders.
They could stand guard at night, and give the alarm if a stealthy foe -ap-
proached. They could make bullets, cut patches and load muskets.

We shall learn later that the Eighth Pennsylvania Regiment was-
raised in Westmoreland county exclusively for border defense, and that
in an emergency it was ordered to Kew Jersey. After its remova;l in
January, 1777. the whole western frontier was laid open to the most vio-
lent Indian depredations. The militia was called out, but they were poorly
drilled, poorly equipped and if paid at all it was in depreciated continental
currency. In 'jj and '78, therefore, there were numerous depredations all
along the border. Indians under the leadership of Simon Girty, or others
of like character, seemed lurking in every place of concealment. The
dangers of this community from ambushing red men, are illustrated in
Captain James Smith's narrative, which has been previously referred to.
About this time he marched a regiment to the Allegheny river region ta
chastise the Indians. In his notes he says they marched in four columns,
forty rods apart, with scouts posted on the flanks of each column. The men
of each column marched one rod apart. In case of an attack each man-

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 87

was to face out and take to the nearest tree. This was to keep the Indians
from surrounding them, and to prevent them from shooting more than once
without exposing themselves. At night they encamped in a hollow square,
each line being about a quarter of a mile long. Guards were placed outside
to watch for the approach of an enemy and to guard the cattle which were
taken along for meat for the army.

These were dark years indeed. The Continental Congress had no way
of raising money sufficient to carry on the war except by promises to pay
in the future. These promises were based on the credit of the country, and
depended entirely on the success of the Colonial army. Every one knew
that if the cause of the Colonies failed, their promises to pay would be worth
nothing. No man who entered the service after 1778 expected to be paid in
continental money, for it had then depreciated until it was almost worth-
less. For the few expenses of the army which must be paid, Congress de-
pended on private subscriptions. Soon the depreciation was so great that
they ceased sending it out as soldiers' pay. Under these difficulties Colonel
Broadhead marched out with the Eighth Regiment in the summer of 1778.
and did great service against the Indians up the Allegheny. His regiment
cut off a party of about forty savages on their way to raid Westmoreland
county. Both Colonels Smith and Lochry accompanied the expedition.
It hail a salutary effect upon the peace and good order of Westmoreland,
l)ut they returned exhausted, for, serving without pay, and clothing them-
selves, they had nothing wherewith to recuperate unless their work at home
went on while they were gone. Thus were difficulties without limit heaped
on the pioneers of our county, and they were all thoroughly understood by
the enemy. Finally, the supreme executive council issued a proclamation
encouraging young men to turn out to fight the Indians in small parties,
and in a manner somewhat after the Indian style. This proclamation had
good effect. There was an adventure in it which was very attractive to
small parties of energetic young men. These parties were called '"Rangers."
Prominent among the Rangers were David Shaw and his brother, the
Brownlees, Colonel Wilson, the Barrs, the Wallaces, Captain Brady, Cap-
tain \'an Swearingen, Samuel Shannon, William Cooper, Joseph Erwin,
Michael Huffnagle, James Guthrie, Matthew Jack, James Smith, Thomas
Stokely and others. These were all bold young rangers, any one of whom
might have figured as a character in the inspiring novels of Sir Walter
Scott ; might have taken the place of Bois Gilbert, or Ivanhoe, or of bold
MacGregor, with his foot upon the heather of his native land, and his
eye on the peak of the much loved Ben Lomond. They went forth dressed
in homespun garments, each armed at his own expense, and comparatively
well armed for that day, for each had a rifle or a musket, a knife and a
hatchet. They acted together, or each set separately, as the occasion de-
manded. They stood together for protection, and they were frequently

88 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

neighbors and well acquainted friends who would not stop at any danger
-to rescue a companion from a difficulty. They had officers whom they
obeyed, whether they were in small parties or engaged in a general turnout
for public defense. More than all this, they were at home in the woods,
and upon any sign or news of distress they knew how to travel by the
shortest route to the place of need. They could soon spread the news of
the presence of Indians over an entire community, and they very rapidly
gathered the women and children to the nearest blockhouse or place of
safety. From long experience in the woods they could travel the almost
trackless forest on dark nights with unerring certainty. Their faculties of
hearing and of sight were sharpened to such acuteness by constant use that
the slightest movement in the bushes was noticed by them, and sounds
which fell on deafened ears of others were distinctly heard and under-
stood by them. They could endure long tramps through the woods and
over mountains, without food. They were rapid runners, and so expert
in the use of a rifle that whether moving or standing they rarely ever failed
to hit the mark. From places and difficulties in which capture seemed al-
most inevitable, they freed themselves by a display of nerve and strength
which made even the hardened Indian marvel and fall back. All these
qualities were bred and born in them from their youth, and were, in hun-
dreds of instances, necessary for self-preservation. Much perception, uner-
ring judgment and boldness of execution, scores of times saved their lives.
For years they were the salvation of our pioneer homes, and to them we owe
every possible meed of praise. Nor were the women of that age less heroic,
and it is not our intention to pass them and their deeds of heroism unnoticed-

In the southern end of the valley those who had carved out little farms
along Indian Creek and on the headwaters of the Four Mile Run had built
a good strong blockhouse on the land taken up by a farmer named Williams,
and this they called Fort Williams. Both the settlers from Indian Creek
and from the Four Mill Run valley had access to this fort. It was on the
west side of the main road leading from Ligonier to Donegal. Here they
gathered in times of danger, for they were too far from Fort Ligonier to
go there. When the Indians had satisfied themselves and left the community
the settlers gathered up their scattered live stock and went back joyfully to
their cabins.

Among the early settlers were the Harmans, the Williams and the
Hayses. Some of them came as early as 1767 or 1768, and perhaps earlier,
but they are known to have been there then. They had all settled in viola-
tion of the law, which forbade the settlement of a section until it was first
purchased from the Indians. They were a brave, daring class of people,
and doubtless cared very little about the original rights of the Indian
race, less, at all events, than did the Penns.

The progenitor of the Harman familv came from Germany, and brought

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 89

with his family a very scanty supply of this world's goods. Tradition says
that they had little else than a rifle, an ax and a mattock, and that the first
summer they lived in a hut built against a rock and covered with bark.
Around the hut he began to clear away the trees sa that his crops might
grow. No one can now appreciate the hardships of these people. They
could not transport grain from the east for bread, for they were right glad,
indeed, if they could get enough for seed. Necessarily they had to live on
the scanty product of a new garden, wild berries, and on game, with which
the woods abounded. Most of them saw no one save the members of
their own families for months, or even for a year after their arrival. This
.and much more fell to the sad lot of the elder Harmans.

When more neighbors came the dangers increased, for, while one man or
a family could live in a lonely valley unmolested by the Indians, he could not
■expect to do this when his flocks had so increased and his neighbors become so
numerous as to tempt the greed of the red men. It was, at best, a continu-
ous warfare for life, not only as against the Indians but as against the wild
and stingy soil as well.

Harman lived about midway between Stahlstown and Donegal, though
not on the present main road, but near Williams' blockhouse. In 1777 he,
with three of his neighbors, were returning from a sale north of their place.
As they rode along the path all were fired on by concealed Indians and
killed. One of them lived long enough to throw his arms around his
horse's neck and be carried away. The Indians did not get his horse nor his
scalp, for he was found the day following with the faithful animal standing
by his side. The others fell where they were shot, and were buried there
the day following. To this day the neighbors point out the place of their
■graves. Harman's widow was left with his land on Four Mile Run, which
included the mouth of Laurel Run. She had three sons — Andrew, John
and Philip, of whom Andrew was the oldest, a lad of fourteen years. They
■removed to the blockhouse over winter, and when spring opened up they
were compelled to resume their work on the "clearing." One morning the
widow saw some neighbors' horses in a field of growing grain near the
curve of the stream, and she sent the two oldest boys to drive them off.
Three hostile Indians were hidden behind the roots and ground of a large
tree which had been uprooted by the storm, lying in wait for the boys to
come near. They readily captured John, but Andrew ran towards their
cabin. He was soon overtaken by an Indian with a tomahawk raised over
his head, and was taken back to wdiere his brother was held captive by the
other two Indians. Both were made to understand in the broken English
■of the Indians that if they made any outcry they would be killed at once.
All of them first went up a steep hill beyond Four Mile Run, from which
thev could see the log cabin and hear their widowed mother calling for
them, bvit they dare not answer her. The Indians asked them if there were

90

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

men at the cabin, and Andrew told them there were. Had not the precocious,
youth thus deceived them, they would doubtless have killed and scalped
their mother, and taken their other brother and such property as was use-
ful to them. Then they started on their journey down the Four Mile Run,
and soon came across two horses belonging to a neighbor of Harman's
named Johnson. One horse was unable to travel, and they cut its throat.
so that it might not annoy them when the other was taken away. They
took the young horse and made him carry some skins, a kettle, etc.,.
which they had with them. That day they killed a deer and cooked some
of the meat over the coals of a fire, giving the prisoner boys all they wanted.
The first night they spent not far from Fort Ligonier, near enough to
hear some noises there, to which the Indians listened very cautiously.
They gave the boys deer skins to sleep on, and made them each a pair of
moccasins from the same material, for they were barefooted when they were
captured.

On the journey one of the Indians showed the boys a pocket wallet
which they recognized at once. When asked where they had procured it
they said they had taken it from a little old Dutchman they had killed the-
year before. It was the pocket wallet of their father, and at least one ot
the Indians had been among the awaiting party which killed him and his:
three neighbors while returning from the sale. When they came to the
Susquehanna river they had great difficulty in crossing. They had a canoe,
but could not propel it and lead the horse. At one time in the passage the
boA's and the guns were on one side of the river and the Indians and the
horse on the other. The boys were probably afraid to shoot and try to make
their escape. They finally reached the Seneca tribe. These were known
generally as the Cornplanters, and Cornplanter was the name of their
chief. They had a reservation in northern Pennsylvania and New York,
were partly civilized, and many of them could speak English. The boys,
were adopted as members of the tribe and were treated kindly. The year
following their capture was one of great sickness among the Indians.
Many of the tribe died, and among others John Harman. Andrew was at-
tached to a prominent chieftain of the tribe who had a son about his age
and the boys became great friends. By the Indians he was called "Andus"
and was liked very much, because he readily fell into their habits. He w^as
treated by them as one of their own tribe, nor would they allow him to be-
ill treated. He was among them when General Broadhead took the Eighth
Regiment up the Allegheny to lay waste their habitations. The tribe suf-
fered greatly from this expedition. The following winter was severe and
they were almost entirely without provisions ; moreover, the snow was-
deep, and all kinds of game were scarce. They contemplated killing An-
drew so that they would no longer have to feed him. One day his master
sent his son and Andrew down the river on the ice to another Indian towm

HISTORY O-F WESTMORELAND COUNTY. gi

to procure some provisions. The master told his son to put Andrew under
the ice when a good opportunity was presented, but the boy overhearing it,
was told that it was the old dog that was to be put under the ice. The
voung warrior did not make the attempt. At another time he accompanied
his master on a hunting expedition. Three deer had been killed and car-
ried to one place, the master leaving Andrew to watch two of them while
he carried a third to his house, telling the boy that he would soon return.
It was very cold and he did not return. So the boy hung the deer so they
would be out of the reach of wolves, wrapped himself up in skins, and was
soon sound asleep. The master came the next morning and found him
covered with snow, and, supposing him to be frozen to death, he kicked
him to ascertain his condition and found the boy in perfect health. After
that they never attempted his life.

One Indian who was a very successful gardner raised a great many
early squashes. The boy had grown tired of dieting on smoked venison and
corn all winter and helped himself to some squashes. For this the Indian
who had raised them fell on him and beat him severely, in fact would prob-
ably have killed him had not Andrew's friends interfered.

Gradually the boy became very like an Indian, adopting their habits
and learning their language. Gradually, too, the memory of his home al-
most faded away, and he had abandoned ever seeing his people again.
After two years he was sold to a British officer for a bottle of rum. The
officer took him to England and kept him as a servant in London for two
years. When the Revolutionary War closed he was exchanged and sent
to Xew York, and from there came to his home in Ligonier Valley. In the
meantime his mother, through many privations, had remained in the old
cabin, and her third son was well grown to manhood. She had long since
ceased to look for the return of her long lost son. Without a moments
warning he walked into her cabin. A neighbor woman who chanced to be
in the Harman cabin at the time, related the circumstance. The boy had
grown to manhood ; the mother was prematurely aged with hardships and
sorrow. When she recognized him she was overcome with joy, and fainted
in his arms. The news of his return was rapidly spread through the valley.
The following Svmday the cabin was crowded all dav with those who had
come from near and far to see the returned captive. Men, women and
children came, many not believing the story until they saw and recognized
him. For many years he and his mother lived together on the old home-
stead, the scene of so much sorrow to her. Andrew never ceased to be a
woodsman. He loved to hunt, and with the gait of the Indian, which he
acquired in captivity, and which he kept even till old age, he was never
happier than when traveling through the wilderness. He, moreover, always
spoke kindly of the Indians, remembering the good and not the evil they had
done him and his family.

92

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

In Ligonier Valley there was almost a constant warfare between the
settlers and the Indians from the earliest settlement till 1792. It was, as
we shall learn later, the first stopping place west of the Allegheny moun-
tains in our county for those who were journeying towards the setting
sun in quest of new homes. The first log cabins were erected very near
the fort, mostly east of it, in the region now traversed by East ]\Iain street,
Ligonier. Gradually these cabins spread out, generally locating as near the
Forbes Road as possible. These settlers made frequent journeys to the fort.
even in times of safety, for there were kept all supplies that could not be
raised by the farmer — such as powder, lead, flints for their guns, as well as
firearms. These were sent out from the east and kept at the garrison. In
return they gave potatoes, grain, and such other products as the garrison
stood in need of.

The valley was also a favorite place for Indian depredations, on account
of its topography. They could readily approach it unheralded, for it was
almost surrounded with uninhabitated mountains. When they had cap-
tured families, taken scalps and stolen horses, they could readily pass out
northward, crossing the Conemaugh or the Kiskiminetas, and almost at
once enter an unbroken forest which practically extended to New York
state. This is the reason why the northern end of the valley was more
harrassed by the Indians than the southern end.

It has been extremely difficult in dealing with the Indian outrages on
our early settlers, to sift the really authentic from the improbable. Of
many of them all that can be found is a reference in a letter from some
prominent man to the council, giving the number killed or carried away,
but nothing of the circumstances surrounding the afifair. There were no
newspapers then to publish such news, and our ancestors had more import-
ant matters to attend to than to describe their enemies. There are msny
traditions which, if only the romantic was sought, would interest the reader,
but most of them are not sufficiently substantiated by surrounding well
known facts to be included here. The years of their greatest trouble with
the Indians were those of the Revolutionary War. The danger then was
so great that families very rarely remained in their houses all year. AVith
the first warning of the presence of Indians, even in the remotest section
of the community, they came to the fort or to cabins near it, and remained
there till the storm had blown over. From there the husband and sons went
daily to their labor on their farms, with their scanty enough lunches tied
in a homespun cloth, but they rarely ever went alone. They united, and,
from five to twent3^ sometimes more, went to one place one day, and to
another the next, and so on till the crops were planted or harvested at each
place. In this way their force was more formidable than though thev had
gone each to his own work. This custom of labor held sway long after the
Indians were forever banished from this section, and was not uncommon

HISTORY OJ^ WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 95

even in the middle of the last century. In the early days, it is needless to
say, they always took their guns with them, and they often appointed one
or more to keep a lookout for an approaching enemy. Their farms were
called "deadnings," or "clearings." The first name indicated that the trees
of the original forest had been deadened by cutting a ring around their
trunks, near the ground, of sufficient depth to prevent the sap from sup-
plying the tree. The trees thus treated made but little shade, and the crop
grew among them comparatively well. When the trees had been largely
cut down and destroyed, the land was called a "clearing," a term still in use
in some sections of our county. The first clearings were made near the
fort, then they reached up and down the Loyalhanna and up Mill Creek and
up the Four J\Iile Run, so named because its junction with the Loyalhanna
was about four miles from the fort.

Even in times of peace, when these settlers remained in their houses,
the bolts, bars, window shutters, etc., with which to barricade the cabin
against the Indians, should they appear suddenly, were always kept in
order. So, too, the house-wife kept a store of provisions against a siege,
and, with that in view, many of the old houses were built not near but
actually on springs, so that water could be had from a spring in the cellar,
in times when all outside communication was cut oil. A family thus
barricaded could often withstand an attack of three or four Indians, till
aid would come to drive them away. Many a red-skin has bitten the
dust from the shot of a farmer or his wife through a loophole made for
that purpose. The following incidents of Indian warfare do not depend
on tradition alone, and can be taken as actual happenings.

Robert Campbell lived with his parents in Fairfield, now Cook township,,
near the Pleasant Grove church. In July, 1776, he and his brothers ^Vill-
iam and Thomas were working in the harvest field and were unguarded,
for there had been no rumor of the presence of Indians for some time.
Suddenly a party of Indians swooped down on them. The lads started to
run home, and this disclosed to the Indians the direction of their cabin, if
they did not know it before. The boys being but half grown, were soon
overtaken by the Indians, who then divided, one set of them guarding the
prisoner boys, while the others went to the Campbell cabin. The mother,
with an infant babe in her arms, started to run away, but she was soon
overtaken and struck down with one blow from a tomahawk which crushed
her skull. In falling she is supposed to have killed her babe. Both were
found the next day and were interred in one grave. Both had been scalped.
There were left in the cabin three girls, named Polly, Isabel and Sarah, all
of whom, with Robert, William and Thomas, taken in the field, were taken
away as prisoners. The Indians had stolen their horses and now rode
them away. The boys were compelled to walk, but the girls were taken on
the horses, each one riding behind an Indian. The youngest of the girls.

94

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

icould not stay on -the horse, so they killed her with a blow from a toma-
hawk and threw her body by the wayside, where it was found a few days
afterward. This was about one mile north of their cabin. They travelled
northward and crossed the Kiskiminetas below Saltsburg, and then went
up through Pennsylvania to New York. There the children were separated.
Thomas was sold to an English officer and was afterwards taken to Eng-
Jand. The two girls were kept four years, and then released and returned
to the valley. William came back at the close of the Revolution. While
Robert was being taken north, he was in charge of a band of Indians who
had a good many other prisoners with them. One night a prisoner, a half
grown bo3% escaped, but was retaken the day following. Shortly after
that he again escaped and was again recaptured. The second attempt was
-not forgiven by the Indians. As soon as he was returned to camp all the
prisoners were brought out and the boy was tied to a tree and gradually
turned to death and to ashes. This horrible spectacle all prisoners were
compelled to witness, perhaps to deter them from attempting to make an
■escape. After being six years in captivity Robert escaped and in 1782 reached
his old home, where he lived the remainder of his days. He was
known far and near as "Elder" Robert Campbell, to distinguish him from
others of the same name who perhaps were less pious, for he was a leader
in the Presbyterian church at Pleasant Grove. He was a most placid tem-
pered man, and the progenitor of a large family which has since inhabited
Cook and Donegal townships. He is buried in the little cemetery at Pleas-
ant Grove.

During the war of the Revolution the Ulery family owned and lived on
a farm about two miles south of Fort Ligonier, now owned by Mr. Isaac
Slater. Like all other settlers in pioneer days, they stayed in the fort in
dangerous times, but even then went out on every possible occasion to
plant and harvest their crops. One day in July, Abigail, Elizabeth and
Juliann went to a meadow near their log house to rake some new mown
hay. At that time there had been no recent word of Indian incursions in the
community and therefore the Ulery family was at home and doubtless off
their guard. Their house stood near the present Slater farm house. In
the midst of their work in the fields the girls were suddenly surprised by
Indians, who had stealthily approached them under the cover of the
woods beyond, and were nearly upon them before they were discovered.
The three girls ran at once towards the house. Abigail, the youngest, was
about sixteen years of age, while Elizabeth was eighteen, and the other
sister about twenty. The two older sisters easily outran Abigail, but she
followed as rapidly as possible. The other sisters doubtless thought she
had been captured, for they mistook the sound of her footfalls behind them
for those of an Indian pursuer, and put forth every effort to keep ahead
of her. The two older girls reached the house, ran in and barred the door.

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 95

.When the younger sister reached the door she was unable to gain admit-
tance, those in tlie inside thinking her to be an Indian pursuer.
Witliout stopping and without making herself known, because of her
frightened condition, she ran around the house and up on the higher ground
above the house. The Indians were almost within reach of her when she
ran from the door and they at once tried to break it in by pushing against
it with their united strength. As they were doing this the father of the
g-irls fired through the door and shot an Indian, most likely in the bowels,
as he always thought. Being unable to break down the door, and perhaps
fearing another shot, the Indians left the house and followed in the direc-
tion the young girl Abigail had taken when she ran away. The door

through which the Indian was shot is a heavy oaken one, and is yet pre-
served by the Slater family. The hole through which the Indian was shot
is about in its center. The young girl Abigail ran but a short distance
until she found a hiding place in a hole in the ground, made by a large
tree having been blown out of root. In this depression were many leaves,
dropped there by the wind, and with these and with tall weeds and grass
she pretty thoroughly concealed herself. She lay there but a few minutes
until the Indians came by and stopped to search for her, for they doubtless

96

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUXTV.

thought she would most likely hide herself in the branches of the fallen
tree, and undoubtedly searched more thoroughly among the branches than
at the root. She heard one of them say to another to look carefully, for
she was certainly there, because he could smell her, and that they would
scalp and kill her when they found her. Long years afterwards she
told her grandchildren and many others that the greatest trial of her life
had been to keep from jumping up and attempting to run awav at this
instant, which would of course have been fatal to her. She said also that
she was in agonizing fear lest her hiding place should be discovered by the
movement of the leaves covering her, occasioned by the violent beating
of her heart.

But her rescue came from another
source. Fortunately for the girl the
wounded Indian was moaning bitterly,
as though in great agony, and de-
manded a great deal of attention from
his fellows. This undoubtedly saved
her life, for her hiding place must
necessarily have been discovered with
but little further search. So they took
the groaning Indian away, one on
either side supporting him, and left
the hidden girl to herself. She at
once, when they were out of sight,
ran rapidly to the cabin, this time be-
ing received into the house and wel-
comed with open arms, for the
family thought she was lost in cap-
tivity or death. The Indians with
their wounded comrade went but
a short distance till they passed
over the brow of the hill and
were out of sight of the house. There it has always been supposed the
Indian died and was buried, for a grave was afterwards found there, and
bones supposed to be Indian bones were dug up on the spot many years
afterwards by Isaac Slater.

When the Indians once raided a community they did not generally visit
the same place again for some time, for the result of an attack was to
arouse the neighborhood thoroughly. For their own safety, therefore,
the Indians usually skulked away to a new locality where their presence was
unheralded. Relying on the expected immunity from further attacks, the
family very soon resumed their usual work. Most likely the day following,
the two girls, Elizabeth and her older sister, went out to work in the same

of Ulery log house. showinK hole througl
ich Indian was shot. This door has been
preserved by the Slater family

HISTORY QF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

97

fields again. Fields were small then, and were skirted with large trees and
underbrush. Concealed in this way, two Indians approached the cabin and
managed to get between it and the girls in the field, thus effectually
cutting off their retreat homeward and precluding the possibility of an es-
cape such as they had made the day before. Only two of the girls were in
the field the second day, their sister Abigail not yet having recovered from
her experience of the day before. Elizabeth and Juliann, thus cut off
from a place of safety to which they could fly, were easily captured by the
Indians. They took them with them at once, going to the southeast, or
towards the present location of Brants' school house. The young women
were overcome with grief, and were Utterly dragged along for about a half a
mile. The Indians tried to have the girls accompany them willingly, and
held out every inducement in the way of promises of kind treatment and
safety if they would do so, then threatening them with instant death if they
did not accompany them more cheerfully. The Indians probably thought it
necessary for them to "get out of that community with their captives as
soon as possible, lest they be followed by a rescuing party. But the
threat of death had less horror for the average pioneer woman than cap-
tivity among the savages, and their ilight from the community was still
retarded by the struggling women. It is probable that both of the girls
were barefooted when taken as prisoners, for shces, in that early period,
were rarely ever worn by either men or women when about their work
in the summer-time. At all events, the girls soon complained that the thorns
and briers were hurting their feet. The Indians then, to make peace with
them and to facilitate their journey, gave them each a pair of moccasins.
When they were near a rivulet which flows past Brant's school house and
thence into the Two Mile Run, the captors became truly savage at the
way their progress was delayed by the struggling women, and again asked
them to chose between captivity or death. This had probably no effect
upon the heart-broken girls except to add to their shrieks of horror and to
increase their efforts to escape. The Indians then tomahawked and scalped
them both, and left them lying on the hillside in the woods. It is probable
that they were impelled to do this because of their fear of pursuit by their
father or other rescuing parties of greater strength. The Indians hurried
on, but were gone but a short time when they returned, having forgotten,
to take their moccasins from the feet of the girls. Neither of the girls had
been killed by the blows given them, nor by being scalped. When the
Indians returned Juliann was lying on the ground as they had left her,
though she was conscious of her surroundings. Elizabeth had unfortu-
nately so far recovered that she was sitting up and leaning against a tree.
She was killed at once by the Indian sinking his tomahawk through the top
of her head. Juliann lay quiet, and heard the one Indian advise the
other to make sure of her death by sinking the tomahawk into her brain

98 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

too. but with the reply that she was as dead as she would ever be, they pro-
cured their moccasins and hastened away.

Not long after their capture their father missed them and turned to
search for them. They were not found until the day following. The dead
girl was buried perhaps near where the tragedy took place. Juliann
was as tenderly cared for as possible at her home and at Fort Ligonier
and finally recovered. Her scalp wcimd never healed over entirely,
though we believe that after a year or so it gave her no pain. She was
never healthy, but lived most of her life with her sister, Abigail, who at
the close of the Revolution, was married to Isaac Slater. Abigail was
the grandmother and namesake of the mother of the writer, as well as the
grandmother of Mr. Isaac Slater, at present a citizen of Ligonier borough.
From them the writer secured this story. They had heard their grand-
mother tell it many times. She lived more than three-quarters of a cen-
tury after she made her marvelous escape from the Indians, and until her
oldest great-grandchildren were nearly full grown, and died October 29, 1855.

Of the capture of Charles Clifford we have a very good account both
by tradition and by various writings which confirm it. He resided on Mill
Creek, a tributary of Loyalhanna, two and one-half miles northwest of Fort
Ligonier. In winter time he and his family stayed in or near the fort, and
in the early spring they resumed their work on their clearings. On April
27, 1779, he and two sons went to their land to do some work preparatory to
planting their spring crops. When they reached the place of their work
they could not find their horses which they had left there the day before to
graze over night. The boys set to clearing up the land, and the father
went to look for the horses. He first went up to some newly deadened
timber tracts near the present town of Waterford, for there he had found
them once before when they strayed away. Not finding them there he
continued the search, and finally reached the Forbes road leading to the
fort, perhaps between Waterford and the present town of Laughlinstown.
Still he could not find his horses, and so concluded to abandon the search
and returned to the fort by this road. He had gone down the road but
a short distance until he was fired on by five Indians who were concealed
behind a log lying by the wayside. None of the balls wounded
him severely, though one of them splintered his gunstock and thus
cut his face, which bled profusely, though it was only a flesh wound.
The Indians ran up to him. wiped the blood from his face, and
seemed very glad he was not injured. They told him he would make a good
man for them, and that they would take him to Niagara. They took from him
his hat, coat, vest and shirt, allowing him to retain his trousers and shoes.
One of the Indians cut away the brim from his hat and amused his fel-
lows very much by wearing the crown. Another wore his shirt and an-
other his vest. They gave him his coat to put on, but to this he objected un-

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. rjg

less they gave him his shirt also, saying- lie could not wear a coat without
a shirt under it. But they did not take his suggestion kindly, and he was
forced to submit, and told to hurry up as they must hasten on their journey.
On the long march they treated him much more kindly than one miglit
expect. The whole race was superstitious, and when five of them shot at
him at once and failed to kill him, they concluded that he had some power
to ward oft dangers and might be very useful to them. They did not tie
his arms, as was their universal custom even among half-grown boys. At
night he slept between two Indians, with a leather strap across his breast,
the ends held firmly by the Indians lying on them. As soon as they lay
down they slept, but Clifford had too many things to think of to sleep so
readily. Gently he drew the one end of the strap from under the Indian
by his side and sat up. The moon was shining bright, but there sat an
Indian on a log. whose turn it was to watch the camp and keep up the
fire. The watch sat silent and motionless as a statue, but the prisoner knew
he was awake and would probably make short work of him if he attempted
to escape. They had journeyed nearly north from where they captured
him. At a point where now the village of Fairfield is located, they were
joined by fifty-two other Indians, whose general trend was northward.
The chief, Clifford said, had his head and arms covered with silver trinkets.
They tore down fences to roast meat, but warily marched a mile or so
away from the smoke to eat and prepare a place to rest over night. Clifford
had great desire to see the other prisoners and to learn if his sons were
among them. They had only one other prisoner, whose name was Peter
Maharg. When Clifford found him he was sitting on a log much dejected,
too much so to reply to Clifford's salutation, and sat with his head down in
perfect silence. As it was learned afterwards he had been taken the same
day and while hunting his horses. Maharg had a small dog with him when
looking for his horses. He had seen the Indians before they saw him,
and was making his escape, but his dog running ahead of him, came run-
ning back to his master as soon as he saw the Indians. To the Indian this
was all that was necessary. Maharg was taken at once. They further
scoured the northern part of the valley for prisoners or booty, but finding
nothing that was not guarded they left on the third day for their home,
which was near the boundary between Pennsylvania and New York, near
the head waters of the Allegheny river. They had thus journeyed about two
hundred miles and killed but two people and secured but two prisoners.
On their long march homeward they marched by daylight, but always
camped an hour or so before sunset. Eight or ten of them guarded the
prisoners while the others hunted through the woods. At the camp they
generally all met about the same time, and the hunters generally brought
in venison, turkey or smaller birds. After the evening meal they lay down
after the manner of the first night. After they crossed the Allegheny river

lOO HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

the game became very scarce, perhaps because of the hard winter. They
could not shoot even a scjuirrel. All the party from that on suffered
greatly from hunger. At one time for three days they had nothing to eat
at all except the tender bark of young chestnut trees. This they cut with
their tomahawks and offered it to their prisoners. Each of them refused,
and received the consolation of "you fool ; you die." They now sent out
two swift Indians who went ahead and in three days returned with some
other Indians, among them some squaws, and who had beans, dried corn,
and dried venison. They gave the two prisoners a fair share of these
provisions. The Indians then divided into two parties, and one of them
took the dejected Maharg, while the ether took Clifford. Maharg was
treated most cruelly, most likely because he remained so morose and de-
jected, for this from the first disgusted them with him. They made him
run the gauntlet, and pounded him so severely that he fell before he had
passed the line. The beating he received did not stop when he fell. He
never recovered from it, but bore marks from it on his body when he was
laid down many years afterwards in his last sleep. Running the gauntlet
consisted in passing between two lines of Indians stationed about six feet
apart, and the lines the same distance apart. The Indians were provided
with clubs, and each had a right to hit the prisoner as he passed. If the
prisoner was strong and active he could sometimes escape pretty well,
but it was at best a most painful and dangerous ordeal.

Clifford had been from the first under an Indian who claimed him as
his servant. After he had become somewhat accustomed to traveling
without a shirt, his Indian gave him a shirt and hat. The shirt was cov-
ered with blood and had two bullet holes in it, and was probably taken
from one of the men whom they had killed. Before he was taken prisoner,
Clifford while working among the bushes had badly snagged his foot,
and this without care became very painful, and the long marches had
brought about inflammation and swelling. On showing it to his particular
Indian guardian, he examined it very carefully and then went to a wild
cherry tree with his tomahawk and procured some of the inner bark. This
he boiled in a small pot and made a syrup with which he bathed the foot,
and after laying the boiled bark on the wound bound it up with pieces of
a shirt. It very rapidly reduced the swelling and allayed the pain. They
kept Clifford six weeks and then delivered him to the British at Montreal.
He learned much about their customs and curious manners, and never failed
to interest his hearers by a narration of his experience and observations
among them. He saw four prisoners running the gauntlet, one of whom
was killed. At another time, when a horse had kicked a boy, the animal
was at once shot by the father of the lad, and the Indians ate the raw
meat of the animal, which they thought very delicious. At Montreal he
grew in favor with the officers of the garrison and fared much better than

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. joi

most .prisoners. He procured from one officer a pocket compass which he
gave to a prisoner named James Flock, who escaped, and by the aid of
the compass, made his way back to Westmoreland county through an al-
most endless wilderness, finally arriving at his home long after his friends
had given him up for dead. Clififord was in Alontreal two years and a half
when he was exchanged. He then made his way back to Ligonier valle_v,
having been gone three years. He lived to be an old man and was respected
by all who knew him. He is buried in the old Fort Palmer cemetery, one of
the oldest graveyards in the county. He died in 1816. He was a soldier of
the Revolution.

The year before the father Charles was captured, his son James left
Fort Ligcnier to hunt game, having with him a very sagacious and well-
trained dog. The dog all at once showed signs of scenting an enemy and
came to his master whining and snarling as though something was wrong.
He continued to advance along the path in the forest, but with a very
watchful eye. In front of him stood a large tree with thick bushes growing
about its stem. Behind these he saw an Indian crouching stealthily and

waiting for him to come nearer. He saw instantly that to turn back or
to stop would be to draw the Indian's fire, and perhaps with a fatal result.
So he walked on. whistling in an unconcerned way, but slowly fetching
his rifle down by his side and cocking it. When this was done he fired
quickly at the Indian, though almost entirely concealed by the bushes,
then turned and ran to the fort, where he found his father and Captain
Shannon talking about the noise of the firing. The captain immediately
started out with a party of fifteen or twenty men to try to get the Indian,
either dead or alive. They found that he had not been killed, but they
tracked him by the blood on the ground, and found that he was twisting

102 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

leaves and forcing them into the wound to stop the flow of blood. It was
evident from the loss of blood that he could not survive long, but from
his not being found it was surmised that he had not been alone, but had
been carried off by others who were with him. Not long after this Robert
Knox, Sr., one of the first settlers of the valley, had a conversation with
a renegade who asked Knox who it was who killed the Indian, mentioning
the circumstances. Knox told him it was one of his neighbor's boys. This
shooting happened near Hunger's spring, at Ligonier, The Cliffords are the
ancestors of the well known Clifford family in Westmoreland county.

Fort Walthour was one and a half miles west of Adamsburg, and was
properly a blockhouse, built by the surrounding neighbors for temporary
safety. It was in the midst of a Pennsylvania Dutch settlement, and
clustering around it were the cabins of the settlers. For some weeks the
settlers had been stopping there at night and going to their fields to labor
in the daytime. The account of the killing of the Williards is well auth-
enticated. Captain Williard, his daughter, a young woman well
grown, and two sons, were working in the fields near the fort, which stood
on Walthour's land. One morning in 1786 there suddenly appeared a small
band of Indians who began firing cii them. The Williards seized their
guns and ran towards the blockhouse. The daughter was overtaken, hvX
the father and sons fired as they retreated, and, when very near the fort,
the old man was killed by a shot from an Indian at close range. The
Indian ran up, placed his foot on the prostrate man, and was just about
to scalp him, when a shot from the fort hit the Indian in the leg or hip ;
with a frightful yell he fled to his companions, but it was noticed that he
limped at every step. He was pursued, but succeeded in hiding himself
among the bushes and thus evaded his pursuers. There he lay for three
days, until the citizens had given up finding him. Then he crawled out
and secured a long stick which he used for a cane or crutch. Living on
berries, roots and bark, and traveling mostly at night, he approached
Turtle Creek, where there was a garrison. It is probable that he would
have given himself up had the soldiers at the garrison been regulars, but
they were militia, as he noticed, and they were much more severe on
Indians than regulars were. They had no sympathy for an Indian, and
would have made short work of him. For thirty-seven days after the
killing of Williard this wretch had wandered over the hills, creeping most
of the time, and having nothing to eat except what he could find in the
woods. At length he reached Pittsburgh and practically gave himself up.
He was a mere skeleton, so weakened that he could only ask for milk.
When he was partially recovered, after considerable beating about, he
practically admitted that it was his party who had attacked the Williards.
and related the circumstances as given above.

After the Indians were driven away from Fort Walthour, a party

HISTORY OF IVESTMORELAND COUNTY. 103

pursued them to the Allegheny river, but could not follow them beyond
that. On their way they found the body of the daughter who had been
captured. She had been killed with a tomahawk and scalped. This still
further aggravated the feelings of the community towards the Indians, and
when at length it was learned that the limping Indian was a prisoner in
Pittsburgh, a new party was organized to bring him to justice. This was
headed by Airs. Williard, widow and mother of the victims of the recent
incursion. They went to Fort Pitt, and asked that the Indian be given to
them that they might do with him as the relatives of the Williards
thought proper. He was accordingly given into their custody. The
Indians did not carry on war according to any recognized methods of war-
fare, and hence were not supposed to be entitled to the protection of the
law when caught. There was, furthermore, a feeling in the Walthour
community that the Fort Pitt authorities should have killed him at once.

When the Indian was delivered to them he was put on a horse and
brought to the Walthour blockhouse. The Williards were deservedly
very popular. The old man was remembered with that high esteem which
usually surrounds those whose advancing years have been years of use-
fulness. The young girl was just blooming into womanhood and had
as many friends and as bright prospects as any maiden in the neighbor-
hood. Here then was the opportunity to avenge their cruel murder.
The entire populace was aroused. The Indian and his guard arrived late
in the afternoon. To add to the occasion, it was determined that he
should have a trial by jury, and should suffer the penalty which they by
their verdict decreed. It is probable that the jury would not have been
entirely unprejudiced, for to be an Indian alone was sufficient to con-
demn him to death. The prevalent opinion was that he would be burned
at the stake, which was the Indian method adopted a short time before in
disposing of Colonel Crawford and many others. But a night must elapse
before an impartial jury could be summoned. A deputy was sent out to
procure a jury for the trial the next day. Others were detailed to cut and
carry wood to the place where the old man Williard had fallen. This,
in our highly censorious modern age, might have been considered as
unduly presumptive of the verdict, but firewood of a good dry quality could be
used for other purposes if not needed in carrying out the mandate of law.

Xow the Indian had fallen from the horse in bringing him from Fort
Pitt, and had apparently rebroken or badly injured his lame leg. Therefore
the guard which was detailed to keep him in the blockhouse over night
did not watch him as closely as they should have done. He climbed up the
logs of the buildin.g to the place where the second story projected and was
left open to shoot down on Indians who might try to break in below. From
there he climbed down the outside and was gone. In the morning a jury
was ])resent : the populace, women and children, had come from long

I04 • HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

distances, the firewood was ready, in fact they had e-^-ery thing for a first-
class trial and immolation except the Indian. After the outbreak of feel-
ing against the guards had passed, a most exhaustive search was instituted.
This extended in every direction and lasted for two days, yet it failed to
reveal the whereabouts of the prisoner and his hiding place is to this day
a mystery. On the fourth day after the escape of the Indian a lad in the
community near by was looking for his horses when he saw an Indian
mounting one of them by the aid of a pole and a fallen tree. The Indian
had made a bark bridle, and at once set off towards the frontier at a
rapid gait. The boy was afraid to claim the horse, but hurried home and
gave the alarm. A searching party was collected and set out in pursuit.
They followed his tracks till darkness compelled them to lay by till morn-
ing came, when the search was again resumed. The Indian frequently rode
in the middle of streams, or turned the wrong way, to mislead his pursuers.
They traced him to the Allegheny River, a distance of about ninety miles,
where they found the horse with the bark bridle. The horse was yet
warm, the sweat not having dried on him, and it was evident that the
Indian had left him but a short time before. Across the river the country
was entirely unsettled and belonged to the Indians, so it was useless to
follow him further. With the hope that he had drowned in the river,
or famished in the wilderness, or that his wound had wrought his death,
they returned and nothing definite was ever heard of the lame Indian.

The murder of the Francis family was one of the most inhuman and
barbarous incidents in border warfare. The family resided two miles
or more east of Brush Creek. There had been no special alarm on ac-
count of Indians for some months, and their usual vigilance was some-
what relaxed. On the day of the murder they did not have their cabin
barricaded, and a party of Indians therefore very easily gained access.
Two of the family were killed at once, and the remaining members were
taken prisoners. One was a young girl who lived to return to the settle-
ment, where she was married and has left descendants in Hempfield town-
ship. Her brothers and sisters were divided among several tribes repre-
sented among the captors. Those who were killed were scalped and their
bodies were found near the ruins of the cabin the day following. They were
buried in the garden, a custom then prevalent among the pioneers, and
which lasted till regular cemeteries or graveyards, as thev were called,
were established.

In the fall of 1795 Captain Sloan, John Wallace, his nephew, and two
neighbors named Hunt and Knott, all citizens of Derry township, and near
neighbors on the banks of the Loyalhanna, concluded to make a trip to
the west. All were expert woodsmen, and were perhaps somewhat tired
of their monotonous home life. Their objective point was the ^liami
Valley, in Ohio. They did not go to fight Indians, but went thoroughly

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 105

armed for self-protection. They took with them two horses which carried
an abundance of provisions. They rode the horses time about, particularly
after the store of provisions was somewhat lightened. Their first point
of destination was Cincinnati, which they reached^ without noteworthy
adventure. After leaving there they camped at night on the banks of the
Big Maumee. The next morning Knott and Sloan were riding and were
fired on by a large band of Indians who were concealed near by. Knott
was killed at the first shot, and Sloan was shot through his left side. Hunt
was captured after a very short run, but Wallace continued to run, and
gained on his pursuers until his foot caught in a root and threw him vio-
lently to the ground. In his fall he also lost his gun. Sloan, though
wounded, managed to capture the frightened horses and rapidly galloped
^fter Wallace. When the latter fell, Sloan stopped both horses, but Wal-
lace was so weakened he could not mount. Sloan then dismounted to as-
sist him, and this delay gave their pursuers time to almost overtake them.
They were again fired at but not wounded, and the frightened horses
soon galloped far away from the Indians. They knew that Fort ^^'ash^
ington was the nearest place they could secure a surgeon, yet they went to
Fort Hamilton first, to warn them of the Indians presence. There they
remained till morning, Ijut as they were about to ride out by break of
day they found the fort entirely surrounded by Indians. There were
several hundred Indians, and only a small garrison of about fifteen men,
under the command of a young officer of little or no military experience.
The Indians knew this and demanded a surrender. The young officer
favored a surrender but told Sloan he should take the forces and make
a defense if he thought proper. Sloan held a conference with their leader
from the top of the fort, and told them of their provisions and that they
expected reinforcements. After considerable conversation through an
interpreter he refused to surrender.

The Indians then fired on the fort and set up a warwhoop which meant
that no quarter was to be shown to those in the fort should they be over-
come. The fort had been built by General Arthur St. Clair, only four
years previous, and was yet strong enciugh to resist their firing. The firing
continued all day, but the Indians were at a safe distance from the fort,
and likely but one of them was killed. At night they tried to burn the
fort, but this attempt was also unsuccessful. Near the fort was a stable
where the horses were kept, and where their cattle used as beeves were fed.
Projecting past the corner of the stable was a corncrib. An Indian con-
cealed himself behind this corncrib and watched the openings of the fort
very closely, firing now and then at the port holes. It was discovered
that the Indian was anxious to leave his place behind the corncrib, and
feared to do so while the upper porthole which commanded his retreat was
occupied. Sloan it was who was watching him. His wounded side

io6 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

bothered him a ,a:reat deal, so that he had others load his gun for him. In-
tending to deceive the Indian, he fired at the point of a gun which the
Indian was exposing for the purpose of drawing Sloan's fire. When Sloan
fired the Indian came out in full view and started to run to his associates,
for he supposed that Sloan could not fire again till he reloaded his gun.
But Sloan had two guns, the second to surprise the Indian with should
he appear after the first fire. The Indian ran but a few steps in view until a-
shot from Sloan's second gun laid him cold in death. Another Indian
took Sloan's horse from the stable, and, putting on Sloan's cocked hat,
which was lost the day before in the chase, rode round and round the fort
but at a safe distance from it. Finally the whole band went away after
killing all the cattle and taking all the horses belonging to the garrison
and both of Sloan's as well. The dead Indian at the corncrib was left be-
hind, for no one would venture near enough to take his body. The band
left, it is presumed, because they feared the arrival of reinforcements.
Sloan and Wallace went to Fort Washington, where a surgeon treated
the captain's side, but, though it was temporarily healed up, he suffered
with it till the day of his death. Hunt was never heard of again. Sloan
and Wallace returned to their more peaceful homes on the Loyalhanna.
and spent their lives here in our county. Sloan was elected sheriff of
Westmoreland county. Before leaving Fort Hamilton he scalped the
Indian he killed at the corncrib, and for many years afterwards the scalp
was on exhibition at gatherings in Sloan's section of the county.

After the close of the Revolutionary War and after the burning of Han-
nastown in 1782, there was really but little mischief done by the Indians
in Westmoreland county as it now exists, or rather, we should say, little
in comparison with what was done before. Often a stray Indian or even
a band of three or four came through to steal horses, capture settlers and
secure scalps, but these incursions were so few and far between that the
general fear of the Indians on the part of our settlers had almost subsided.
This was due largely to the return of our soldiers from the Revolution,
who were now sufficiently strong to thoroughly defend the western bor-
der and to deter the Indians from attempting to overrun this section.

But in 1790 the Indians in Ohio succeeded in badly defeating the army
of General Harmar, and the following year achieved a still greater victory
over the army of General St. Clair. These victories inspired the Indians
with confidence, and they began a series of incursions which were only
stopped when General Anthony Wayne won a sigmal victory over them at
the battle of Fallen Timber, in 1794.

Resulting from the boldness of the Indians brought about by the suc-
cess of 1790 and '91, our people suffered in several sections, and the raiders
came so near Greensburg that a blockhouse was built there in 1792,
though the other forts and blockhouses in the count}' were rapidly goin'^

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 107

into decay. Several white settlers were captured, some horses were
stolen, and one or two citizens were murdered. The only instance of these
incursions after 1791, and indeed, the only one after the burning of Han-
nastown, of which we have any definite information, is that of the capture
and murder of the Mitchell family in Derry township. They had come here
in 1773 and purchased lands on the banks of the Loyalhanna, east of the
present town of Latrobe. Their house is said to have been two miles east
of Latrobe, on the line of the Ligonier Valley Railroad. The family in
1 79 1 consisted of the mother and two children, Charles and Susan, aged
respectively seventeen and fifteen years. The husband and father had
been dead some years, and his defenseless family was living alone. A
band of four Indians approached the house while Charles and Susan were
in the stable. They noticed the Indians approaching, and Charles tried to
escape by running toward the Loyalhanna. They all ran after and soon
captured him. While this was going on Susan hid herself under a large
trough used in feeding horses, where she remained quietly, and though the In-
dians all looked for her they failed to discover her hiding place. They
then captured the lonely old mother and started hurriedly away to the north,
for they knew that their depredations would soon be generally known,
and that a party of rescuers much larger than their band could soon be
raised to follow them. They soon found that Mrs. Mitchell was too old
to keep up with them in their hurried trip north. To turn her back would
be but to give assistance to the pursuers in following them, yet it appeared
that they did not want to kill her in the presence of her son. So two of
them pushed on with the son, and, it being about dark, they kindled a fire.
The other two loitered behind with Mrs. Mitchell. While the advance party
were standing around the fire the two who remained behind came up. One
of them was carrying the bloody scalp of the prisoner's mother. He pro-
ceeded to stretch it over a bent twig and dry it at the fire in presence of the
boy with as little compunction as though it had been the scalp of a wild
animal. In Armstrong coimty they came upon the tracks of two white
men. Both Charles and the Indian who was guarding him saw them at
a distance, and young Mitchell recognized them as Captain Sloan and
Harry Hill, both of whom were neighbors to the Mitchells on the banks of
the Loyalhanna. The ground was covered with snow, and Sloan was a
large man with very large feet, so his tracks in the snow were so unusually
large that the Indian measured them with a ramrod. His exclamations of
surprise led Charles to tell him that it was the track of the big Captain
Sloan, the great Indian fighter. The band concluded from this not to try
to capture them, but pushed on in another direction. Later in the day
Sloan and Hill discovered the tracks of the Indians, and also that they had
a white prisoner, judging from his tracks. They concluded that to run
them down would insure the death of the prisoner, and therefore, with no

io8 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

fear for themselves, they wisely determined not to pursue. The boy was
taken to the Cornplanter tribe and there adopted by a squaw who had
lost her own boy in the war. He was compelled to obey her as though
he had been her son. They made him hoe corn and do all kinds of work
which usually fell to the hard lot of a squaw. After three years he escaped
from them and returned to his old home, where he was afterwards married
and there remained till he died, at a good old age. He often told how a
band of Indians crossed a large swollen stream when they had no canoes.
They cut a long slender sapling and placed it on the shoulders of two of
their tallest and strongest men, one at each end. The smaller men and
squaws held on to the pole, their places being between the two men at the
ends. If one shoidd slip he could draw himself up by the pole, for it was
not likely that all would be carried down at once.

While the efficient Lieutenant Blane was commander of Fort Ligonier
in 1763, several parties of Indians claiming to be friendly visited the fort,
and were always treated kindly by the lieutenant and his forces. On
one of these visits, at least, they were accompanied by a young warrior
named Maidenfoot. While there a pioneer named Means, with his, wife
and daughter, the latter a young girl of eleven years, also entered the
fort." Maidenfoot was greatly pleased with the young girl. From her he
learned that she lived about a mile south of the fort, and on leaving her
he gave her a string of beads, which as an Indian he must have valued
very highly. It was noticed, too, that in talking to the girl he seemed very
sad and heartbroken, as though her bright young face touched a tender
place in his memory. The beads were preserved by the girl as an Indian
present, and often worn as ornaments, which were somewhat rare in the
new settlement.

One day late in ]\Iay or early in June, Mrs. ]\Ieans, and her daughter
started again to the fort, but this time to remain, for there was a rumor of
Indians in the neighborhood. The girl, as may be supposed, wore her bead*
around her neck. When they were nearing the fort they were captured
by two large Indians who took them into the woods a short distance and
bound them to saplings with deer thongs. They were warned to keep quiet
or they would be tomahawked at once. Very shortly after this they heard
the report of many rifles from the direction of the fort, as though an at-
tack had been made on it by a band of Indians. It was even so, for Pon-
tiac's Indians had arrived and were then making the first of their many
assaults on Captain Blane and his limited force. The battle raged for
several hours but the fortress was not injured. Late in the afternoon
Maidenfoot appeared before the prisoners, sent perhaps to take their
scalps. He recognized them at once, because of the string of beads, and
unbound them. Then he conducted them in a roundal)out wav to their
home, where tliey were met bv their husband and father, Yw. Means.

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 109

Maidenfoot told them that their only safety depended on their flight to
the mountains, and pointed out to them, towards the south, a safe place for
them to hide. He told them further, that the band would soon be gone, and
that they need only remain there a short time. Mr. Means and his fam-
ily lost no time in going to the ravine pointed out by Maidenfoot, and there
remained till the Indians had passed on. Before he left them the young
warrior took the handkerchief of the girl, and on it was worked in black
silk her name, Mary ^Means.

Time passed on; the county was more thickly settled, and Mr. Means
and his family removed to Ohio, where he purchased a larger tract of
land not far from where the city of Cincinnati is built. There the father and
mother of the girl died, and she grew to womanhood and was married to an
officer of the Revolutionary period, named Kearney. They owned and tilled
the land left by their parents. Kearney commanded a company under Gen-
eral Anthony Wayne at Fallen Timber. After the battle was over, as he
and some of his soldiers were looking over the field, they came to an elderly
Indian who, while sitting on a log, waved a white handkerchief over his
head. Some of Kearney's companions would have shot him at once, but
the captain interfered and approached him. The Indian told them that
he had been an Indian warrior all his life, that he had fought at Ligonier,
at Bushy Run, at Hannastown, at Wabash against St. Clair, and at
Fallen Timber. Now that he was old he asked only peace ; that he had
buried the hatchet and would fight no more; that he had done his share of
fighting in defense of his race, and thereafter meant to live at peace with
all mankind. Search was made of his possessions, which revealed that he
had in his bullet pouch a handkerchief with the maiden name of Captain
Kearney's wife ("Alary Means") worked on it in black silk letters. The
story of the beads, and how they saved the life of his wife when a child,
had been often told to the husband. Upon learning that the Indian had
once been known by the name of Maidenfoot, he took him to his home. His
wife and the Indian recognized each other, though thirty-one years had
passed since they had parted on that gloomy morning in Ligonier Valley.
All these years the woman liad treasured her beads because they had once
saved her life, while the Indian had treasured her handkerchief from an-
other reason, which he disclosed on further acquaintance. He said that
but a short time before he met the young girl in the fort he had lost his
sister, aliout her age and size ; that when he gave her the beads he adopted
her as his sister, though he had no desire to take her from her parents.
This young girl touched a tender chord in his memory. Maidenfoot was
taken into the family of Captain Kearney. -He was always cheerful, and
readily adapted himself to the customs of his near friends. In about four
years he died of consumption, and was buried with military honors in a

no HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

little churchyard near Cincinnati. Over his grave was erected a marble
slab with the following inscription :

"In memory of Maidenfoot, an Indian Chief of the Eighteenth Century,
who died a civilian and a christian."

Among the early settlers around Fort Ligonier was a farmer named
Reed, whose family consisted of his wife and four children. His oldest
child, a daughter named Rebecca, was a young woman in 1778, and his son
George was a year or so her junior. Quite often it became the duty of the
daughter to assist her father in outdoor labors, such as planting corn and
harvesting crops. This gave to her physical system a strength and lithe-
ness unusual to her sex. In her old age she had a very attractive face, and
those who remembered her loved to tell of the beauty and personal at-
tractions of her youth. She was the pride of her parents, and her lovely
character made her easily the favorite of the valley settlement. The Reeds
had a comfortable log house, and while at first they were almost alone in
the wilderness, other families gathered around them, so that their com-
munity was dotted all over with clearings, cabins and houses. Here
lived then perhaps sixty families of fearless and happy people. During
the winter they were not disturbed much by the Indians, but in the sum-
mer they were frequently compelled to seek refuge in the fort. Winter was
a poor season for the Indians to make long journeys on foot, for the reason
that they always subsisted on the country through which they traveled.
Further more, the snows of winter made it easy for the settlers or the
soldiers of a garrison to track them.

In the summer of 1778 nearly all outdoor work was done in common,
and they rarely ever worked without a certain number of them standing
guard at the edge of the fields. The men went out from the fort almost
daily, for they were compelled to look after their crops or face hunger in
the following winter. The women were cooped up in the fort very closely
during the dangerous period of the year. A favorite rural sport and
exercise for the young men and women in the fort was foot racing be-
tween the two extremes of the stockade. Among all the young women who
entered the contest. Miss Reed was the fleetest of foot. Indeed, she could
outrun most young men in the fort. A young man named Shannon, of
noted athletic power, often contested in races with her, and it is said felt a
special thrill of joy when, either through his gallantry or her fleetness, she
came out victor. The summer of 1778 was a gloomy one in all parts of our
county, for the Indians were lurking in almost every defile, and rumors of
depredations came almost daily to the garrison. One afternoon Rebecca
Reed and her brother George, in company with a young man named
I\Icans and his sister, Sarah, left the fort to gather berries on a clear-
ing about two miles away, where they were reported to be most plentiful.
Their way as they neared the clearing led them through a thick growth of

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. m

underbrush which ahuost arched over the narrow road they were walking
along. While passing through this narrow way they met Major McDowell
returning on horseback from the farms beyond and unconcernedly carrying
his rifle on his shoulder. Suddenly the little party was fired on by Indians
who were lying in ambush near by. George Reed and young Means were
in front. Reed was mortally wounded, but ran a short distance into the
bushes. Another ball struck McDowell's rifle, shattered the stock, and
forced splinters of it into his face and neck. The young man with Reed
ran back towards the girls, perhaps to protect them, but was almost in-
stantly surrounded by Indians who ran from the bushes, and made a cap-
tive. The girls started to run towards the fort and the Indians pursued
them. They soon caught Miss Means, who was holding to Miss Reed's arm,
and when they caught her were so close to Miss Reed that an Indian
grasped at her clothes, but failed to stop her. Now that she was freed
from the other girl she bounded off like a deer. The savage who had
grasped for her was determined to catch her, and a most novel race
ensued. The Indian doubtless expected an easy victory, but was very
soon mortified to find himself losing ground. This continued, and then
he began a series of terrific yells so well known in Indian warfare and
calculated to confuse or unnerve the girl. But instead of being inti-
midated or overcome as he hoped, the fiendish yells had the opposite
effect on the brave girl, as she often afterward related. She now
put forth additional energy, and by straining every nerve accelerated
her speed. She was clearly in the lead and by every step was in-
creasing the distance between her and her pursurer. The Indian
kept up the pursuit, doubtless with the hope that his great power
of endurance would yet enable him to capture the rich prize flying before
him, and thus preserve his good name among the tribe.

In the fort the noise of the shooting and the yells of the Indian were
distinctly heard. Knowing that a party of four had gone out in that direc-
tion, a relief party sprang for their rifles and hurried to the rescue. Shan-
non headed the party, and the fact that Miss Reed was among those in
danger was sufficient \o call forth his best energies, if, indeed, a loyal
frontiersman needed any stimulant when pursuing Indians. But at all events
he soon left the rescue party in the rear by the fleetness of his movements.
When he had gone about a half mile from the fort he saw Miss Reed
flying along the path towards him at a greater speed than she ever ran
before, and the Indian several rods behind her. But the quick eye of the
Indian caught sight of Shannon perhaps before Miss Reed saw him. Notic-
ing also the rifle in his hands, the Indian stopped at once and turned into the
bushes. A few steps brought Miss Reed to Shannon, who assisted her to
the fort, while the rest of the rescuing party ran to the locality hurriedly
pointed out by Miss Reed. She was very nearly exhausted, and it was
doubtful whether, without the interposition of Shannon and his trusty

112 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

rifle, she could have held out in her terrific speed long enough to gain the
fort. The rescuing party found the lifeless body of Reed, but he was not
scalped. Perhaps that was left for the Indian who pursued Miss Reed to
attend to on his return, but he did not return that way. They found the
body of Miss Means, who had been tomahawked and scalped. The In-
dians made good their retreat with young Means, as a prisoner. Shannon
and Miss Reed were married shortly after the Indian troubles ceased, and
lived most happily on a farm in Ligonier Valley until both were bowed
with the weight of more than four-score years. But a vastly different
fate awaited the Indian who was defeated in the race with Miss Reed.
Three years later, when the captive Means returned home, it was learned
that the Indian was disgraced forever among his people because he had
been fairly distanced in a race with a "white squaw." He was a splen-
did specimen of his race, and had been the accepted suitor of a chieftain's
daughter, the belle of the forest. But ever after this, to him, unfortunate
episode, she treated him only with feelings of scorn and contempt. For
three years at least, that is, while the prisoner Means remained with the
tribe, he was little more than a slave to the other Indians, performing only
the meanest drudgery encumbent on these natives of the forest.

There is a version of this story which says that Miss Reed was carried
to the fort on the horse behind McDowell, and that with his assistance she
sprung to the horse's back while at full fiallop. This is unlikely, and
moreover is not true. The circumstances exactly as above detailed were
gotten by the writer from one who had them directly from Mr. and I\Irs-.
Shannon in their old age.

Jacob Nicely was one of the last boys captured by the Indians in West-
moreland county. This took place in 1790, or perhaps a year later. The
circumstances surrounding it are all well authenticated. He was the son
and perhaps the youngest son of Adam Nicely, who lived on the Four
Mile Run, about two miles from its junction with the Loyalhanna.

One bright morning the Nicely children were out in the meadow pick-
ing berries, when the little boy Jacob started to the house. The mother was
baking, and giving the child a warm cake, told it to rejoin the other chil-
dren. But the child came back, saying the cake was too hot, and the other
poured some cold water on it and again the child went away. These
little journeys were closely watched by a party of Seneca Indians con-
cealed near by. They captured the boy on his way back to the meadow.
His capture, his struggles to free himself, and his cries, were seen and
heard by the other children, who ran home and reported it to their parents.
The father raised a company of willing neighbors who pursued the Indians
with all possible speed. They traced them to the Kiskiminetas river, but
in the wilderness beyond their track was soon lost. The father and his
neighbors then returned to the heartbroken mother.

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

"3

The captured boy was about five years old, and was at once adopted
into the Seneca tribe. He rapidly forgot almost all he knew about his
home and people in the lonely valley of the Loyalhanna. He readily ac-
quired the habits and customs of the Indians, and was to all intents and
purposes a member of the Seneca tribe. He learned to speak a new lan-
guage, and forgot the few words taught him in childhood by his mother.
He even forgot his own name, and could not pronounce it when he heard it.
He spoke the Seneca language as though born in the wilderess, and spoke
nis mother tongue haltingly as did his Indian associates.

Many years after, a trader, perhaps a fur dealer, who lived near the
Nicely family on the Four Alile Run, chanced to be among the Senecas
and saw this captive, now grown to manhood. The traveler was so im-
pressed b}' the resemblance of the man to the Nicely family, whom he
knew well in Ligonier Valley, that he made inquiry, and learned that the man
had been captured when a child in Westmoreland county. The traveler came
home and reported this to the Nicelys in 1828, nearly forty years after the cap-
ture. The father of the boy had long since died and his mother had passed her
three-score years and ten. A brother of the captured boy decided at once
to visit the Indian tribe and see the long lost captive. Neighbors spoke
dissuadingly of the project, but he was determined, and after a short prepa-
ration mounted a horse and rode away to the northern tribe. He made the
journey in safety and found his brother. There was no doubt of the
identity in the minds of either of them. The captured brother had been
married to a squaw, and had around him a family of Indian children. He
was prosperous for his surroundings, and had about him plenty of land,
horses and cattle, and was well supplied with hunting and fishing imple-
ments. When his brother was in his house he sent out to procure a white
woman as cook, for the Indian manner of preparing meals was not sup-
posed to be palatable to white people. There is a tradition in the family
that the captured brother had visited Westmoreland prior to this, trying
to locate his people and his home, and that, mispronouncing his name, he
could not find them. At all events. Jacob arranged with his brother to
visit his mother and relatives the following year. He also accompanied
his brother part of the way home, made him a present of a rifle, etc. But
the captive son and 'brother did not come as he promised. Perhaps he
died before the following year, which was the time set for his visit. At all
events, he was never heard from again. When the aged mother spoke of
him, which was very often as the years advanced, she always called him
hei- "Jakey," and with her eyes filled with tears. After a while the family
ceased to look for him. but his mother never gave up the idea that he
would return to her. Her hair grew gray in fruitless longing for a sight
of her long lost child, and this yearning only ceased when her whitened
head was pillowed in its last and sweetest sleep.

At the outbreak of the French and Indian war a Scotch-Irish settle-

114 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

ment had been made in what is now Fulton county, Pennsylvania, at a
place known as the Big Cove. The Quaker government of Pennsylvania
had refused to give these people land except within the area that was then
open to settlement, and they had therefore gone farther west and taken
up land on their own account. The state authorities, fearing that this
movement would exasperate the Indians of the west, tried to prevent this
settlement, but failed to do so, as the settlers promptly returned to their
lands when the ofificers who had been sent to eject them, left. Among these
pioneers was John Martin, the ancestor of the Martin family of Western
Pennsylvania. Following the disastrous defeat of General Braddock on
the Monongahela in the summer of 1755, the Indians carried the war east-
ward across the Alleghenies, and on the first of Xovember of that year a
band of them suddenly fell upon the settlers at the Big Cove. Among the
homes destroyed was that of John Martin, who at the time of the raid was
absent on a trip to Philadelphia, having taken his horses with him. His oldest
son, Hugh Martin, afterwards one of the most prominent men in the formative
period of Westmoreland history, was then seventeen years of age, and hearing
of the impending attack, started to warn his neighbor and arrange
for the escape of the two families to a blockhouse somewhere in
the settlement. He found his neighbor's cabin in flames, and, returning,
saw the Indians sacking his own home, his mother, two brothers and three
sisters, being prisoners. As he was unable to render assistance to the
family he kept hidden from view until the Indians left, and then started
eastward for help, traveling under cover as best he could. He met a body
of armed men on the second day, and returned with them to the Cove, but
the Indians had gone, taking their prisoners with them to their village on
the Allegheny River, at or near the present site of Kittanning. The set-
tlers dared not follow, being too few in number. John Alartin returned
from the east, and with his son Hugh rebuilt the home.

The Martin prisoners consisted of Mrs. Martin ; Mary, aged nineteen ;
Martha, aged twelve; James and William, aged ten and eight respectively;
and Janet, aged two years. Mary, upon her refusal to adopt the Indian
life, was beaten to death by the squaws, and within a short tim.e the mother
was torn away from her children and carried to Quebec by the French.
She worked as a domestic, and in time was able to secure her freedom. A
French merchant of Quebec who was trading with the Indians along the
Allegheny River, secured the little girl Janet and took her to his home. The
mother had the good fortune to meet her child there, and, proving her
claim, was allowed to redeem her. After a considerable period of time
Mrs. Martin was able to take passage on a ship to Liverpool, and from there
she sailed to Philadelphia, finally reaching her home at the Cove with
her young daughter after several years of trials. Martha, James and Will-
iam Martin were held in captivity by the Indians for about nine years.

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 115

They were carried along by roving bands of the Delaware and Tuscar-
■ora tribes over Western Pennsylvania and as far west as the Scioto \'alley,
in Ohio. They spent some time in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, the
encampment bein;g; on Big Sewickley creek, near the present site of Bell's
Mills in Sewickley township. The Martin boys were attached to this
spot, and after their release they returned in 1769' and took patent to two
tracts of land there, where they continued to live during most of their lives.
\\hile there was no communication between the prisoners and their family
at Big Cove, the latter had learned in some way that their lives had been
spared, for John Martin had come as far as Fort Ligonier at one time to
treat with the Indians for their ransom. He was not successful, however,
and nearly lost his life in this attempt. After the notable defeat of the
Indians by Col. Boquet at Bushy Run in 1763, the Indians agreed to give
up their prisoners, and the Martins, along with others, were brought to
Fort Pitt and surrendered to their friends.

The habits of life acquired by their long contact with the Indians
never forsook the two Martin boys. Though they made permanent homes
on land of their own, they had no inclination to labor or to improve, but
spent their days in hunting or idleness. Their elder brother, Hugh Mar-
tin, while a young man, also came to Westmoreland county, and, as indi-
cated above, became prominent in its early history. Later their j'oungest
sister, Janet, captured as a child when two years old, came as the wife of
John Jamison and settled on a tract of land on Dry Ridge, three miles
southeast of Greensburg. She lived there many years until her death in
1839, and was the mother of a large family. She was the grandmother of
Tthe late Robert S. Jamison of Greensburg, Pennsylvania, and of Margaret
J. Jamison, to the latter of whom the author is indebted for this sketch.

CHAPTER VIII

Scotch. — Irish. — German.

Westmoreland county as it now exists in territory was settled largely
by Scotch-Irish and Pennsylvania Dutch. The Scotch-Irish was a sturdy
race of people in all colonies wherever found. They came from Ireland,
but their ancestors had originally been the bone and sinew of Scotland be-
fore they had removed to the Emerald Isle. They were scattered over
Western Pennsylvania, and were the first to cluster around the forts and
blockhouses, where they made money by trading in lands, furs, and skins-
and other products, rather than by agricultural pursuits. They lived by
thrift, rather than by hard labor, yet they did not attempt to live on the
unpaid labor of others. They were an extremely aggressive and indepen-
dent people who made splendid pioneers in a new country.

There were also a good many descendants of French Huguenots who,
by the Edict of Nantes, were driven from their vine-clad houses in France
because of their religious belief. Many of them had lived so long among
the European nations surrounding France that they by intermarriage and
association had lost not only their original tongues but their names,
though they still retained their distinctive nationalities. Therefore they not
infrequently came to America with French names and German, English
cr Swiss tongues. Probably three-fourths of all the settlers who came to
Westmoreland, however, had for their mother tongue the English language.
Of the other fourth the German tongue predominated. Our early set-
tlers were in their make-up not unlike the people in other parts of the state,
that is, extremely heterogeneous. This was due to the fact that the policy
of the Province had been, even from the days of William Penn, its founder,
that men of all shades of political and religious belief in Europe or else-
where, should find a welcome home among our hills.

The Scotch-Irish very soon obtained control of our public affairs in
Westmoreland county, as, indeed, they did of almost every colony or prov-
ince in which they settled. They designated their coming here as a "set-
tlement among the Broadrims," a term applied to Pennsylvanians because

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAXD COUXTY. 117

of the shape of their hats. More of them came to Pennsylvania than to any
other section of America. About the time our country was opening up to
settlers, they fled from a series of domestic troubles in Ireland. Promi-
nent among these were high rents and peculiarly oppressive actions on the
part of the land owners. The landed estates in Ireland, it will be re-
membered, were almost entirely owned by lords, dukes and nobles, who lived
in London, and this metropolis was then the center of a most profligate and
spendthrift age and race, to keep up with which high rents and oppresive
measures seemed to be necessary. Here in Western Pennsylvania land was
cheap and plenty, and here they came in untold numbers. With them came
many from Philadelphia, Chester, Lancaster, Berks, Bucks, York and Cum-
berland counties, these latter actuated mainly by that progressive west-
ward moving spirit so common in America, and which has since filled the
western states with a thrifty and intelligent population.

The Scotch-Irish adhered to the Calvinistic religion, and they had a
personality strong enough to very largely impress it upon their new neigh-
bors. They were, indeed, an intellectual and steadfast people. They were
not only independent, but were shrewd, industrious and ambitious. They
very readily became Americanized, perhaps more so than any other set-
tlers. They had no strict nationality to forget, nor sympathetic national
feelings to unlearn. Tfiere was no pure Celtic blood in their veins. They
iiad no nation which bound them as purely their own. The songs of Rob-
ert Burns, which made the Scotchman forever loyal to his native heather,
had no special music for them, nor did the memory of any song learned in
childhood from the lips of an Irish mother fill them with patriotism and
glory, or draw them from the New back to the Old World. The Sham-
rock, to which the true sons of Erin are universally loyal, had no tender
memoried mystic cord interest to them. They were no more attached to
Ireland than the Hebrews were to Egypt by their long sojourn there, or
than the Puritans were to Holland, from whence they came to America in
1620. The pure Irish are loyal to the mystic traditions of their hearthstones
in wdiatever nation they may be found. The pure Scotch weep as readily
on the banks of the Mississippi as in Scotland over the chant of "Bonnie
Doon." But the Scotch-Irish remembered Ireland only as a place of a
severe and temporary tenantry. These characteristics made them ex-
cessively independent, if not arrogant, in the New Word, and gave them
power to impress their identity on, if not to govern, any community in which
they settled. They and their deeds of heroism in America have received
the highest measure of praise by their friends, while their enemies have ap-
parently, with equal reason, held them up to bitterest ridicule. They al-
ways looked down on the Puritans and Quakers who, in turn, despised them.
They abhorred the Pennsylvania Dutch, and yet from the beginning to the
end they ruled Quaker, Puritan and Dutchman with a rod of iron.

Ti8 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

This aggressive spirit led to many difficulties between the Indian and
the white men in our country. The English and Dutch had both, as far
as practicable, adopted Penn's peace-loving policy in dealing with the
Indians. They had endured many hardships and wrongs on the part of the
Indian, for the sake of a hoped-for future peace. But not so with the ag-
gressive spirit which characterized the Scotch-Irish. They wanted land,
caring little whether it came from the Indians or the Proprietary govern-
ment ; whether it destroyed the Indians' hunting ground or encroached
on the squatter-rights of the Quakers, English or Dutch, and, when they
once procured a title to it, woe be unto the one who interfered with their
possessions. No ignorant brutal race of red men should encroach on the
rights of a people who had for centuries stood up against and held their own
with the oppressive hand of the Irish landholder. But, when the Indian
came to retaliate, he made no distinction between the pacific Dutch, Quaker
or English, and the high-minded if not warlike Scotch-Irish. All were
alike white men to him, and upon the white race, without distinction, fell
the severity of the incursions, which he doubtless thought were a just
punishment for wrongs received at the hands of the white man in general.
The Germans in Western Pennsylvania did not generally come from
Germany, but rather from Berks, Lancaster, Cumberland, Philadelphia,
and other eastern counties. Their ancestors, however, had come from the
banks of the Rhine, from Alsace and Loraine, from the Netherlands, or
Holland. They were called Pennsylvania Dutch, and spoke a langua;je
that was a mixture of German and English, with now and then a word or
an expression engrafted from other European tongues. It very greatly re-
sembled pure German, so much so that a German scholar can converse
readily with a Pennsylvania Dutchman, while the latter has even today no
trouble whatever in making himself understood in Germany. This lan-
guage was even in its best days, almost entirely a colloquial dialect, and
consequently has declined very rapidly in the last fifty years.

There were Pennsylvania Dutch scattered all over Westmoreland
county, but they settled mostly in Hempfield and Huntingdon townships.
There were also a great many on the Chestnut Ridge bordering Somerset
county, where they were very numerous. They lived isolated lives com-
pared with the Scotch-Irish, and the township of Hempfield and Hunting-
don as well, have in a great measure retained their Dutch characteristics
even to our day. They never went abroad to seek public preferment or
office. They were almost exclusively farmers, and they were good farmers,
too, with apparently little ambition to engage in other industries. They
were sober, industrious, economical, unprogressive and honest. The early
settlers of this race believed in ghosts, haunted houses, signs, etc., more than
their neighbors of other extraction did. Many of them even yet plant their
crops, kill their live stock, cut their grass, roof their houses, build fences.

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUXTY. 119

etc., in certain signs which they learned from their ancestors. In the early
years many of them had horseshoes nailed above their doors to keep away
the witches. They burnt brimstone in the coop to keep the witches from
bewitching the chickens. Aiany a fond mother taught her children that as
long as they wore the breastbone of a chicken tied around their necks with a
string, they would not take whooping cough. They made tea from the dried
lung of a fox to cure consumption. The rattles 'of a snake killed without
biting itself would not only cure headache but would ward off sunstroke
as well. So it was that long long years after the last Indian had been driven
to the Mississippi valley, they imagined that they heard warwhoops of
savages on dismal evenings, and the music of fife and drums, once so com-
mon at forts and stockades, often came back to dispel the Indian spirits
which nightly hovered around their former hunting grounds. Many be-
lieved that children with certain ailments could be cured by putting them
three times through a horse collar. So a felon could be cured by a child
which in its youth had strangled a groundmole by holding it above its
head. This peculiar ability remained with the child even to aged man-
hood. Diseases of horses were cured by words and charms, and water was
discovered by the twigs of trees held in certain positions. Many believed
that immense treasures were buried in the ground. This was generally
English gold, and more than one field has been dug over in fruitless
searches tor the rich mineral.

But it can scarcely be said that they were ignorantly superstitious, or
superstitious greatly beyond the age in which they lived It must be re-
membered that Blackstone, the greatest of English law commentators,
believed in witchcraft, etc. He says. Book 4, Chapt. 4, Sec. 6: "To deny
the possibility, nay actual existence of witchcraft and sorcery, is at once
flatly to contradict the revealed word of God in various passages both of
the Old and New Testament : and the thing itself is a truth to which every
nation in the world hath in its turn borne testimony, either by examples
seemingly well attested or by prohibitory laws ; which at least supposes
the possibility of commerce with evil spirits. The civil law punishes
with death not only the sorcerers themselves, but also those who consult
them imitating in the former the express law of God, "Thou shalt not suf-
fer a witch to live," and our laws both before and since the Conquest have
been equally penal ; ranking this crime in the same class with heresy
and condemning both to the flames."

There were some old Dutch cures that though seemingly foolish, may
have cured the patient. To illustrate : they believed that a horse could be
cured of sweeny, which is an atrophy of the muscles, by taking a round
stone from the bottom of a creek and rubbing the sweenied parts for fifteen
minutes before breakfast. This cure, foolish as it mav seem, had in it all

I20 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

the essentials of tlie most modern methods of the massage treatment.
and doubtless cured many a sufifering horse. So, too, erysipelas, a
feverish skin disease with painful swelling, could be cured by taking the
blood of a black rooster killed before sun-rise and covering the diseased
parts thoroughly with it. Now the blood of the rooster when dried formed
a covering which kept the air from it. and doubtless in many instances ef-
fected a cure. The skillful modern surgeon would apply collodion, which
would effect a cure in the same way.

But very early they established churches and Sunday schools. They
had preachers from Germany or men educated in the German language and
this is one reason why the Pennsylvania Dutch language has lasted as long
as it has. In religion the most intelligent of them were largely Lutherans
or German Reformed. There were Mennonites or Mennonists, who were fol-
lowers of Simon Menno, born in 1496. There were also many Dunkards
and Ornish. These three branches were nearly the same in religious be-
liefs and they were all extremely superstitious. They rejected infant bap-
tism, would not be sworn in court nor perform military duty. They are
remembered now mostly from their peculiar dress and from their public
feet washing as a religious ceremony. The shrill whistle of the locomotive
was the death knell to many of these superstitions. Neither the Dunkards,
Mennonites nor the Omish have held their own with the march of educa-
tion and improvement. The common school system wherein the text books
and teachers were almost exclusively English, has well nigh obliterated the
Pennsylvania Dutch language.

Nor must it be supposed that these people, ignorant and superstitious
as they were, were inferior in native intellect or morality. For their day
they acquired large estates and lived comfortably. At the time of which
we write, they were within the limits of Bedford county, too far from
the seat of justice to redress their grievances by going to law. They had
therefore an unwritten law among themselves which in effect worked out
the spirit of all law as defined by Justinian, the Great Roman law giver,
viz. : "To live honestly, hurt nobody, and render to every one his due."
One in that community who habitually violated this precept, was very soon
ostracised from the society of his neighbors ; the ordinary field hand would
not work for or associate with him. He was not invited to the barn rais-
ing or log rollings so common then in the sparsely settled country, and this
unwritten law of social ostracism was carried out so thoroughly against the
offending dishonest or unworthy neighbor that families thus ostracised
have abhorrently left the fields they had cleared with great labor, never to
return to them.

These principles of right living were brought with them and thoroughly
implanted in the new country, for most of them had been brought up under

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAXD COUNTY. 121

the English law and knew thoroughly their inherent rights as citizens of a
■community. The very absence of courts or covenient tribunals before
■which to redress their grievances, helped them in a great measure, to give
a liigh moral tone to their rural communities in their personal relations with
€ach other.

CHAPTER IX

The Beginning of the Revolution. — Early Movements Towards Freedom. — Westmoreland
Patriots' Resolution. — The Rattlesnake Flag.

The people of Westmoreland may well feel proud of their record in the
Revolutionary war. Though the county had been open to settlement but six
years, and erected but three years prior to the great contest ; though we were
almost entirely a coinmunity of farmers, and struggling pioneers, with but two
small towns, neither of which had a population of five hundred ; yet we have
the proud distinction, as the records show, of having furnished more men for
the various branches of the Revolutionary army than the city and county of
Philadelphia furnished. True, they were not all under the direct command of
Washington, but they were an integral part of the forces which brought about
the glorious victory at Yorktown. That Philadelphia had many Quakers who-
would not fight, and many Tories, who were against us, must not lessen the
glory which attaches to our Revolutionary record.

The battle of Lexington, on April 19, 1775, brought on a rapid crystali-
zation of the general spirit of freedom and independence which pervaded
all of the colonies in America. Whatever may have been the ill feeling
between Pennsylvania and Virginia, before this, they were as one colony
or one province when united in the cause of freedom, or as against England
whose oppressive policy they thought they could no longer endure. This
was true of all of the colonies. But we believe there was a special reason
why the people of Westmoreland county were more hostile and bitter
against the mother country than the inhabitants of any other section of
the Province. Dunmore, as we have said, was an English Earl, and had
been appointed by George II as they thought, for the purpose of punish-
ing the Virginia "colony for resisting the Stamp Act of 1765. But his pun-
ishment fell as we have seen, most heavily on Westmoreland county. Our
people associated him directly with King George, and traced their mis-
fortunes under Dunmore directly to the English government.

The news of the battle of Lexington doubtless flew across the colonies
very rapidly for that day, though it did not reach the western section of the

HISTORY OF IVESTMORELAXD COUXTY. 123

province till about the first of Alay. Four weeks after the battle, on May
16, 1775, a largely attended meeting was held at Hannastown. The call
must have been general in this county, for a similar meeting was held on,
the same day in Pittsburg.

In many respects the meeting at Hannastown was the most glorious,
one ever held in the county, even up to our present day of great events.
True, they met in a log cabin — met as pioneers, and many of them were
doubtless clothed in homespun garments, or hunting suits of buckskin;
met in the shade of the "forest primeval", on the border of civilization. But
nevertheless, let the reader suggest a meeting in modern times, and com-
pare its proceedings with those of the Hannastown meeting and its patrio-
tic resolutions, and they will pale into utter insignificance. There is but
one document in American letters which can be compared with the Han-
nastown Resolutions, and that is the Declaration of Independence itself,
which was not then in existence except in the mind of Thomas Jefferson. It^
must always be remembered that the Hannastown Convention met and
adopted its resolutions more than a year before the Declaration of Inde-
pendence was signed. The Hannastown Resolutions embrace the sub-
stance of the Magna Charta as wrested from King John at Runnymede in-
12 1 5, and nearly every principle enunciated in them was repeated in the
Great Declaration of July 4, 1776. Take the two together, and we find
sentences in either which may be substituted in the other, and read with-
out detection, except upon the closest scrutiny. Nay, more. Had the prin-
cipal clauses of the Hannastown Resolution been adopted in Philadelphia
as part of the Declaration on July 4, 1776, the statesmen of the day would
not have noticed the substitution. It is as positive as any state paper-
we have in the English language, not excepting the best writings of Alex-
ander Hamilton. It defines as clearly the causes of complaint, and points
out the remedy for our evils, with a precision as unerring as any paper ever
printed either in Europe or America :

Resolved unanimously. That the Parliament of Great Britain, by several late acts,
have declared the inhabitants of Massachusetts Bay to be in rebellion; and the ministry,,
by endeavoring to enforce these acts, have attempted to reduce the said inhabitants to
a more wretched state of slavery than ever before existed in any state or country. Not
content with violating their constitutional and chartered privileges, they would strip
them of the rights of humanity, exposing lives to the wanton and unpunishable sport of
licentious soldiery, and depriving them of the very means of sustenance.

Resolved unanimously. That there is no reason to doubt but the same system of
tyranny and oppression will, should it meet with success in Massachusetts Bay, be extended,
to every other part of America : it is, therefore, become the indispensable duty of every
American, of every man who has any public virtue or love of his country, or for pos-
terity, by every means which God has put in his power, to resist and oppose the execu-
tion of it ; that for us, we will be ready to oppose it with our lives, and fortunes, and the
better to enable us to accomplish it, we will immediately form ourselves into a military

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

body, to consist of companies to be made up out of the several townships under the
following association, which is declared to be the Association of Westmoreland county.

We declare to the world, that we do not mean by this Association to deviate from
that loyalty which we hold it our bounded duty to observe ; but, animated with the love
of liberty, it is no less our duty to maintain and defend our just rights, which with
sorrow we have seen of late wantonly violated in many instances by a wicked ministry
and a corrupted Parliament, and transmit them entire to our posterity, for which purpose
■we do agree and associate together.

. Possessed with the most unshaken loyalty and fidelity to His Majesty King
George the Third, whom we acknowledge to be our lawful and rightful King, and who
■we wish may long be the beloved sovereign of a free and happy people throughout the
whole British Empire ; we declare to the world that we do not mean by this association
to deviate from that loyalty which we hold it to be our bounden duty to observe ; but,
animated with the love of liberty, it is no less our duty to maintain and defend our just
rights (which with sorrow, we have seen of late wantonly violated in many instances
"by a wicked ministry and a corrupted Parliament) and transmit them entire to our
posterity, for which purpose we do agree and associate together.

ist. To arm and form ourselves into a regiment or regiments, and choose officers
to command us.

2nd. We will with alacrity, endeavor to make ourselves masters of the manual
exercise, and such evolutions as shall be necessary to enable us to act in a body with
concert ; and to that end we will meet at such times and places as shall be appointed,
cither for the companies or regiment, by the officers commanding each when chosen.

3rd. That should our country be invaded by a foreign enemy, or should troops be
sent from Great Britain to enforce the late arbitrary acts of Parliament, we will cheer-
fully submit to a -military discipline, and to the utmost of our power, resist and oppose
them, or either of them, and will coincide with any plan that may be formed for the de-
fense of America in general, or Pennsylvania in particular.

4th. That we do not desire any innovation, but only that things may be restored
to, and go on in the same way as before the era of the Stamp Act, when Boston grew great
and America was happy. As a proof of this disposition, we will quietly submit to the
laws by which we have been accustomed to be governed before that period, and will, in
our several or associate capacities, be ready when called on to assist the civil magi-
strates in carrying the same into execution.

5th. That when the British Parliament shall have repealed their late obnoxious
statutes, and shall recede from their claim to tax us, and make laws for us in every in-
stance, or when some general plan of union or reconciliation has been formed and ac-
cepted by America, this, our association, shall be dissolved ; but till then it shall remain
in full force ; and to the observation of it we bind ourselves by everything dear and
sacred amongst men. No licensed murder ; no famine introduced by law.

Resolved, That on Wednesday the 24th instant, the township meet to accede to the
said association and choose their officers.

These resolutions, with the proceedings, are found in the American
Archives, Fourth Series, vol. 2, page 615. The reader cannot but ask who
wrote them. Some eastern writers have claimed that they were not writ-
ten and adopted then, but were forged many years afterwards. It was
probably hard for them to think that here in the western wilderness were
men who were intellectually equal to the task of preparing them thus early
in the great struggle against England. Their genuineness is not difficult to

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 125,

prove. Arthur St. Clair, in a letter to Governor Penn, writing of the meet-
ing, the resolutions, etc., says : "I got a clause added to it by which they
bind themselves to assist the civil magistrates in the execution of the laws,
they ha\-e been accustomed to be governed by." This undoubtedly re-
fers to the latter part of the fourth clause of the resolutions: Furthermore,
in a letter written to Joseph Shippen from Ligonier the day after the meet-
ing, in refering to the arming and disciplining of the citizens of the county,
St. Clair says, "I doubt their utility, and am almost as much afraid of suc-
cess in this contest as of being vanquished." Both of them agree exactly
with the text of the resolutions, and we take it therefore that those who
doubted their genuineness were not aware of the existence of this corres-
pondence.

On the other hand, it has been claimed that St. Clair was the sole author
of the resolutions. This claim is not borne out, indeed, it is almost dis-
proved by his letters as quoted above. Had he been their sole author he
would scarcely have written, "I got a clause added," etc., and in the second
letter, if he "doubted their utility," etc., he would not have written that
clause. But from their general style, from the strong English, inter-
spersed with English law terms, it is known that they were prepared by a
thoroughly educated man and one of high literary attainments and likely
by some one who had been educated in Great Britain. Such a man in every
particular was Arthur St. Clair, and he was present in the convention,
also, as is indicated by his letters. He is generally regarded as a soldier
purely, but he was in reality one of the best educated men of the Revolution,,
and a master of English letters. No one can read his writings without ad-
mitting this. He had, moreover, the benefit oi a college education, was
descended from a long line of ancestors, illustrious alike for deeds of noble
daring and for their intellectual and social standing. In America he had
associated with our most polished people. To those who will look into his
modest life, the fact that he never claimed their authorship is no evidence
that he was not the author. It is generally believed that he was, in the
main, their author, and that he was one of the leading spirits of the conven-
tion. Yet there was one clause in them which he did not endorse, and
one which could not have been in the original draft, for St. Clair says he
had it added to them.

The regiment, the necessity of which was suggested in the resolutions,,
and the utility of which he doubted, was almost at once organized at Han-
nastown, and was the first in the county at the breaking out of the Revolu-
tion. It was moreover commanded by our first sheriff, John Proctor, of
whom we have formerly spoken. It adopted a flag for its own use before
the colonies had conceived the idea of a general flag for all of the American
troops. The flag has been preserved, and is yet one of the most noted and
highly valued mementoes of the past. It is made of crimson silk, and has
in its upper left hand corner the coat-of-arms of Great Britain, for it will"

'126

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUXTY.

be remembered that we had not yet thrown off the yoke of Engfland, but
were still professedly loyal subjects to His Majesty, George the Third. On
its folds is a rattlesnake with thirteen rattles, indicative of the thirteen col-
onies in America. Underneath the snake are the words "Don't tread on
me." In a half circle are the letters, "J. P. F. B. W. C. P.", which are the
initials of the words : John Proctor's First Battalion, Westmoreland County^
Pennsylvania. The flag has long years been in the possession of Elizabeth
Craig, of New Alexandria, a small station on the New Alexandria branch
of the Pennsylvania Railroad. It came to her by descent from her ances-
tor. The flag has not been seen by many because of the inaccessibility of
the town in which its owner lives. Many antiquarians and collectors of Rev-
■ olutionary relics have wisely been refused its possession, though large sums

71 IS

THE RATTLESNAKE FLAG

-of money have been offered for it. It is properly one of Westmoreland's
most valuable heritages of the past, and we trust will ever remain with our

-people, and be preserved for the admiration and patriotic inspiration of
generations yet unborn.

The Boston Port Bill was to go into effect on June i, 1774. In brief it
closed the port to commerce; forbade town meetings except at the pleasure

■of the governor; placed the appointment of the governor, council and sher-
iffs in the crown ; and gave to the appointed sheriffs the power of electing
juries. On May 13, the Boston authorities by resolution called on other

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 12;

colonies to unite with them to stop all importation from Great Britain and
the West Indies. In Pennsylvania a meeting of representatives from all of
the counties was called for July 15, at Philadelphia. A Westmoreland
county meeting was held at Hannastown to elect delegates to the Phila-
delphia convention. It resulted in the selection of Robert Hanna and James
Cavett to represent our county and they attended. Both of them were men
of little education or culture, and were probably but illy fitted to associate
with men like Thomas jNIifflin, Joseph Reed, and the learned and polished
John Dickinson. Hanna had recently been a tavernkeeper, and was a jus-
tice, while Cavett was a county commissioner. They were perhaps called
upon to pass on questions of government and royal prerogatives which
more learned men would have handled with better grace. But they were
strong in common sense, a very useful quality in popular assemblies, while
there were plenty of abler men to supply the necessary dignity and learning.
The Continental Congress acted on the recommendations of this and other
assemblies, and resolved to raise an army, of which George Washington
was chosen commander-in-chief. The Province of Pennsylvania was to
furnish 4300 troops for this army. The Philadelphia assembly suggested
that all counties secure arms and provide minute-men who should be able
to march to the seat of war on the shortest notice. In our county a com-
mittee of safety was appointed, and William Thompson, our first assembly-
man, elected in 1773, was alone constituted the committee.

The militia men associated themselves together to resist foreign in-
vasion, and were accordingly called "Associators" all over the Province.
The assessors were asked to furnish the names of all who were physically
able to bear arms. On all who were not Associators a tax of two one-half
pounds in addition to the regular tax was levied. The assembly provided
that if any of the Associators was called to war and should thus leave his
family without the proper means of support, in his absence, the justices of
the peace and the overseers of the poor should look after them and see
that they were supported at public expense. Late in 1775 four battalions
were called for from Pennsylvania, and one of them was put under the com-
mand of Arthur St. Clair, who was made its colonel.

A long struggle ensued between the Penns, the Proprietaries of the
Province and their adherents, and their opponents, who were called Whigs.
At length the Whigs called a convention, the ultimate object of which was
to devise means by which a new government of the state could be formed.
Westmoreland sent Edward Cook and James Perry. This convention met
in May, and among other things decided that a new form of govern-
ment was necessary, and recommended a convention of representatives
from the difTerent counties of the Province, who should be elected with the
understanding that they were to form a new constitution. A committee of
this convention was also appointed to decide the number of delegates

128 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

each county should be entitled to, and to determine the method by which
the delegates should be elected, etc. There were two members from each
county in the Province except from Westmoreland, which was represented
by but one, and Edward Cook was our representative. In providing for the
election of these delegates it was decided that only those who had paid a
Provincial tax for three years should be entitled to vote. Our county and
Bedford being new counties, had been relieved from the payment of Prov-
incial tax, and consequently under that ruling cauld not have been represent-
ed at all, so an exception was made for these two counties. Otherwise it
was supposed that a man who had not paid tax for three years should not
have much to say in the overthrow of the Provincial government. For the
purpose of electing these delegates, our county was divided into two dis-
tricts. All south of the Youghiogheny River were to vote at Spark's Fort,
on the river, and all north of the river, which embraced nearly all of our
present county, were to vote at Hannastown. Each county in the Province
was to elect eight men who should, if they thought fit, reorganize the state
government. Those elected from Westmoreland county were James Barr,
Edward Cook, James Smith, John Moore, John Carmichael, James Perry,
James McClelland and Christopher Lobingier. Since these men were elected
to perform the most important duty which had yet devolved upon any
of the county's representatives, it may be well to look briefly into their
lives. All were, moreover, prominent men who made their share of the
early history of our county and Province.

James Barr was born in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, in 1749, and
came to Westmoreland county, settling in Derry township, which then
extended to the far north, about 1770. He very early became a leader in
the organi-zation of companies to defend the border settlements against the
Indians, and performed similar services in the early days of the Revolution.
He was a member of the convention of July 15, 1776, and was also a justice
of the peace in our county till 1787. From 1787 till 1789 he was a member
of the general assembly, and opposed in every way the calling of a state
convention, the object of which was to change the organic law of the state
in 1790. Nevertheless the convention was called, and a new constitution,
known as the Constitution of 1790, was adopted. Under this constitution he
was associate judge of Westmoreland county. When Armstrong county
was organized, in 1800, he fell within the limits of the new county. He
died May 11, 1824.

Edward Cook was born in 1738, of English parents who had settled in
the Cumberland Valley. In 1772 he came to Westmoreland and took up
lands on the Youghiogheny and Monongahela rivers. In 1776 he built a
stone house, which is still standing. He was a storekeeper, farmer, and dis-
tiller, and also owned slaves, which came under the gradual abolition law
of 1782. He was a member of the committee of conference which met in

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 129

Carpenter's Hall, Philadelphia. June 18, 1776, and of the convention of
July 15, 1776. In 1777 he was appointed by the assembly of Pennsylvania
to meet similarly appointed delegates from other states in New Haven,
Connecticut, to regulate prices of all commodities produced by the new
states. They met November 22, 1777. In 1781-he commanded a battalion
for frontier defense, and was county lieutenant from early in 1782 till early
in 1783. Later he was a justice for both Westmoreland and Washington
counties, and under the new constitution was associate judge of Fayette
county. He was largely instrumental in ending the Whisky Insurrection
of 1794. He died in 1808, and his wife died in 1837, aged ninety-four, both
dying in the stone house in which they had moved when built in 1776.

James Perry lived near the mouth of Turtle Creek. He was a member
of the Provincial Convention which met in Carpenter's Hall on June 28,
1776, and of the convention of July 15, 1776, after which he moved to Ken-
tucky.

John McClelland was born in 1734, in Lancaster county, and after com-
ing to Westmoreland county lived in that part which fell within Fayette
county on its organization in 1783. He was a member of the convention
of July 15, 1776, and represented Westmoreland in the general assembly
in 1778. He was a captain in the First Battalion of Westmoreland Militia
at the beginning of the Revolution, and was also prominent in the Whisky
Insurrection.

Christopher Lobingier was a son of Christopher Lobingier, of Witten-
Derg, Germany, and was born in Lancaster (now Dauphin) county, in
1740, shortly after his parents came to America. In 1772 he removed to
Mount Pleasant township in Westmoreland county, not far from the pres-
ent village of Laurelville. He served on the Revolutionary Committee ot
Correspondence and was a member of the convention of July 15, 1776. He
was also a member of the general assembly under the constitution of 1790,
in the lower house, 1791 to '93. He died July 4, 1798, leaving a widow
whose name had been Elizabeth Mulley, who died in Stoyestown, Pennsyl-
vania, September, 15, 1815. His son George was associate judge of West-
moreland county and also a member of the assembly.

John Carmichael was a native of Cumberland county, and was born
about 1757. Shortly before the Revolution he had settled in Westmoreland
county, but in the part which afterwards fell in Fayette county. He lived
near Redstone Creek. He owned a mill and a distillery. In addition to be-
ing a member of the convention of July 15, 1776, he was a member of the
assembly in 1777. He died in 1796.

Brief sketches of John Moore and James Smith will be found in other
sections of this work, the former in the chapter treating of the judiciary of
Westmoreland, he being one of our early judges, and the latter in that part

130 ' HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

which treats of Westmoreland in the Revolution, he having earned addi-
tional laurels later in our later history.

This convention met July 15th, 1776, eleven days after the Continental
Congress had declared all the colonies free and independent states. Hitherto
the oaths taken by all officers had acknowledged loyalty to the King of Eng-
land, but now congress prescribed an oath which pledged allegiance to
the new government, and was so sweeping that it cannot but be of interest
to the reader. The following is the text in full :

"I do swear (or affirm) that I renounce and refuse all allegiance to George the
Third, King of Great Britain, his heirs and successors, and that I will be faithful and
bear true allegiance to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania as a free and independent
state, and that I will not at any time do or cause to be done any matter or thing that will
be injurious to the freedom and independence thereof as declared by Congress; and also
that I will discover and make known to some one justice of the peace of said state all
treasons or traitorous conspiracies which I now know or hereafter shall know to be
found against this or any of the United States of America."

The old assembly, mostly composed of the Penns, their relations and
adherents, objected violently to the supreme authority assumed by this
new convention, but, under the Declaration of Independence, with soldiers
marching everywhere and liberty bells ringing out the old and in the new,
they made but a slight impression. The new convention took supreme
authority over the state aiTairs, approved the Declaration of Independence,
appointed new justices who were compelled to take the new oath. They
declared us a free state and arranged for a new plan of government, known
as the Constitution of 1776, which went into effect September 28. The con-
vention paid great attention to the military of our new state. All white
citizens over eighteen years of age were to be enrolled for military duty,
and to take the oath of allegiance before August 1st. All who refused
or neglected to go before the justices and perform this duty were to be
regarded as Tories, that is, enemies of the state, and adherents of the
King, and were to be subjected to fine and imprisonment.

The military affairs were farther put under the supervision of an officer
called a county lieutenant. He had power to order out the militia and send
them where he pleased. He distributed arms and clothing, and paid the
military the money raised in the county to the supreme executive council.
His authority was limited only by the council itself, except of course when
the county was under the supervision of a branch of the regular army, in
which case he was subject to its commander. Archibald Lochry, one of
the inany progressive Scotch-Irish who had settled in our county, was the
first and, we believe the most efficient county lieutenant of Westmoreland
county. He was appointed March 21, 1777. He resided on a large estate
in Unity township, near the present town of Latrobe. In 1782 he was sue-

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 131

ce;?ded by Edward Cook, but as he lived in that part of Westmoreland now
embraced in Washington county, which was formed in 1781, he was soon
succeeded in this county by Colonel Charles Campbell. He was a plain un-
polished man, but was a noted Indian fighter, and filled the office well,
though his duties were extremely onerous. He was not only expected to
furnish Westmoreland's quota of men for the front, but to look after the
Western border as will. It is fair to state, however, that on account of the
Western border troubles our county was not called on to furnish as many
men for the service in the eastern army as its number of inhabitants would
warrant. But they were expected to look after themselves, in addition to
the troops they sent east. The Indians were more or less allied with the
English, and frequently raided the western border. During the Revolution
they regarded it to be their just right to exterminate the white population if
they could. They were paid for scalps by the English, and were strongly
in sympathy with them because of presents, firearms, ammunition and money
— all of which were plentiful with the British and extremely scarce with
the colonial army. No alliance could be made with the Indians by the col-
onists, for a neutral hostility was bred and born in both of them. Their
interests were always inimical.

By the constitution adopted the executive power was vested in a Pres-
ident and Council. The council was to consist of twelve members from
various parts of the state. Westmoreland county was allowed one to be
elected by the people, and John Proctor was our first member He was
succeeded by Thomas Scott, who filled the office three years, the limit as
defined by the constitution. Scott lived in what is now Washington county,
was a man of fine ability, and was afterwards elected as the first member of
congress from that county.

CHAPTER X

Westmoreland in the Revolution.

Late in 1775 the Continental Congress requested the Assembly of Penn-
sylvania to raise one battalion for service in the regular army. About this
time John Nelson had raised a company of riflemen, nearly all of whom were
Westmorelanders, and had offered them to the Continental Congress. His
company was composed of one captain, himself; three lieutenants, four sei-
geants, four corporals and seventy privates. As soon as they were received
in New York they were sent to Canada by order of General Benedict Arnold.
They were at first in Colonel De Hass' battalion, and in November, 1776,
they were placed under command of Colonel Anthony Waj'ne. After March,
1777, they were placed under command of Colonel Francis Johnston, of the
Fifth Pennsylvania Regiment. In Canada they served under Colonel St.
Clair. Some of them fought under Colonel Richard Butler, a brave young
soldier from Westmoreland county, of whom and of whose family we shall
write more extensively later on. He was under Wayne with these West-
moreland soldiers in the southern campaign when the long continued war
was nearing its end. They were also at Germantown, Brandywine, Mon-
mouth, Stony Point and Yorktown.

The Second Pennsylvania Battalion was raised by an order of Congress
dated December 9, 1775, calling for four more battalions, and the enlistment
of these was for one year. This was also connected with Wayne's Fourth
Battalion, and with the Sixth as well, which was under the command of
Colonel, afterwards General, William Irvine. In January, 1776, Congress
promoted both St. Clair and Wayne, and they will hereafter be known as
Generals. St. Clair had up to this time been engaged in drilling troops as
they came as new recruits from the country, and organizing them into com-
panies. This was done near Philadelphia, and as rapidly as they were ready
they were disposed of and became the effective force of the regular army.
But now he was ordered to Canada. With him went two new companies
from Westmoreland county, most of whom he knew intimately. One of these
Westmoreland companies was in command of William Butler, a brother of
Richard, and a lifelong friend of St. Clair's. These two men not only went

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 133

through the Revokitionary war together for the most part, but were together
in the unfortunate Ohio expedition against the Indians in 1791, when Butler,
as second in command, bravely laid down his life. The other company from
Westmoreland county was under command of Stephen Bayard, who was
afterwards lieutenant-colonel of the Eighth Pennsylvania Regiment, which
was composed very largely of Westmoreland soldiers.

General St. Clair, according to the order of the war committee of Con-
gress, prepared his battalion as rapidly as possible for the Canadian com-
mission. Though they were very poorly equipped, their equipment was the
best the colonial exchequer could afiford. As rapidly as possible they passed
up the Hudson and thence into Canada. It was a desperate march, for it
was through an almost unbroken forest, and then into the heart of the Eng-
lish colony, and that the strongest in America. Without great difficulty he
took Quebec. JMuch had been hoped for from this expedition. It was sup-
posed that Canada would be as anxious to cut itself loose from England as
our colonies were, and that all that was necessary was to afiford them an
opportunity, when they would unite with us and enlarge and strengthen
our colonies. The advantage of this addition to our territory, thus leaving
England no foothold whatever in America, can easily be seen, and accounts
for tlie brilliant prospects of the Canadian expedition. But the contrary was
found by St. Clair and his army. After taking their capital they refused
to assist him or to declare themselves free from England'. They did not
want to be "liberated,"' and, instead of allying themselves with the American
troops, they decidedly leaned towards the British. They even took up arms
against the Colonial army, whom they treated on every hand as invaders.
Of course, under this state of affairs the Colonial troops could not hold
what they had so boldly marched for and captured. St. Clair could do noth-
ing but retreat toward the Sorrel river, which is the outlet of Lake Cham-
plain and flows into the St. Lawrence. The British, reinforced, now pursued
his retreating army. They finally came together at Three Rivers, and St.
Clair gave battle in a manner which has been the adhiiration of military
writers ever since, and which has been considered by them as one of the
best contested fields, from a scientific military standpoint, among all the
battles of the Revolution. In fact, no campaign in all the war showed more
military genius nor more ^personal heroism on the part of its soldiers than
this one. Hardships seemingly almost insurmountable were bravely endured
and conquered. After one of the most difficult marches in our history, they
practically conquered the British army on their own ground. The English
army was now reinforced by Canadians and Indians, and was under the
command of General Burgoyne. St. Clair's army could do nothing but re-
treat gradually before the English bayonets into a cold and snowy wilder-
ness to their own country. In all this the Westmoreland soldiers bore their
part, and in every instance, so far as the records show, acquitted themselves
as became brave men of the new nation.

134 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

. The Third Pennsylvania Regiment was formed from part of St. Clair s
Second Battalion, in which were the companies commanded by Captains
Butler and Bayard. It was enlarged by recruits in the latter part of 1776
and early in 1777. There is very little information in the army reports con-
cerning this regiment, but it was taken into the Continental service in Alarch,
1777. Colonel Joseph Wood was its coiiimander, but he had been wounded
in Canada, and, his wounds growing more serious, he resigned and was suc-
ceeded by Thomas Craig, who was kept in command till the close of the Rev-
olution. Captain Butler was made lieutenant-colonel of Daniel Alorgan's
rifle regiment, and was succeeded as captain by James Christie. From time
to time several of the companies were transferred to other regiments, and
some of its officers were promoted or given other commands. The men of
Captain Butler's company mostly re-enlisted when their time of service had
expired, and remained in the regiment under Captain Christie. They were
never, while they remained in the army, more than half clothed, and generally
were poorly fed, but this was the general condition of the Colonial army, and
makes still greater the honor of the victory they eventually won at York-
town. At one time, it is reported that the regiment had but one blanket on
an average to six men, and none of them had whole tents. The officers were
as poorly clad as the soldiers, none of them having uniforms, and they par-
took of the same scanty food. They spent an ever memorable winter at
Valley Forge, and from there recruiting officers were sent out. The recruit-
ing stations for Westmoreland county were established at the houses of Lieu-
tenant Francis Moore, James Carnahan and Lieutenant Joseph Brownlee.
Twenty dollars bounty was offered by Congress, and the state offered one
hundred dollars, but these bounties were paid by the county to Congress and
the state, so that in reality one hundred and twenty dollars was paid by the
county for each recruit. Small as it may seem to us, it was a great tax on
the early inhabitants of the county. Nevertheless there were many of our
Westmoreland soldiers who enlisted early and without bounty, and remained
in the army till after the battle of Yorktown. In some cases they came home
only to enlist in defense of the border settlements against the Indians. This
service was largely performed by militia in short-term enlistments, and' by
independent companies called "rangers."

The Third Regiment, by deaths in and out of battles and from various
other causes, was so greatly reduced that it had to be reorganized at Easton,
Pennsylvania, in January, 1781. Colonel Craig was its commander, and it
was attached to the command of General Wayne in his justly celebrated south-
ern campaign. The officers were Captain James Christie, Captain Thomas
Butler, Lieutenants Daniel St. Clair and Ebenezer Denny, and Colonels Rich-
ard Butler and Stephen Bayard.

James Christie was a Scotchman, born in Edinburgh, in 1750. He came
to Westmoreland countv some time before the Revolution, perhaps when

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 135

about twenty years old, and died here in the early part of the eighteenth
century. When Benedict Arnold's treacherous plot was discovered to Wash-
ington, he appointed Christie to visit all the posts along the Hudson and re-
port their general condition to him. When it is remembered that Washing-
ton (after Arnold attempted to sell the Colonial armies out for British gold)
said he did not know whom to trust, Christie's appointment indicated that the
commander-in-chief had great faith in him. He was a brave soldier, and
lived a most exemplary life.

Nor was Colonel Thomas Butler less distinguished and trusted by the
great chief. At the battle of Brandy wine he saw a squad of American troops
retreating in disorder. Butler, placing himself at their head, successfully
rallied them so that they did good service. For this he received the highest
praise from the lips of Washington on the field of battle. He accompanied
General St. Clair in the Ohio campaign, when defeated by the Indians in 1791,
and was badly wounded in the leg. His brother. Captain Edward Butler,
carried him to a place of safety. In I794 he was made a lieutenant-colonel,
and died in Westmoreland county in 1805, aged fifty-one years.

Daniel St. Clair was the eldest son of General Arthur St. Clair, and was
born in Boston, in 1762. He was rather meagerly educated, considering the
polished education of his father, for he spent his boyhood days on the frontier,
where schools were unknown — in Fort Bedford and Fort Ligonier. He en-
tered the Revolution as an ensign, September 20, 1776, was promoted to
first lieutenant April ist, 1777, and served continuously till 1781. He read
law, and was admitted to the bar in Westmoreland county in January, 1789,
and practiced in Greensburg. He served a short time in the war of 1812.
In 1791, February 3, he was married to Rachel Shannon, of Perkiomen, Penn-
sylvania. Later he removed to Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, where
he died, February 18, 1833, and was buried at Evansburg, Pennsylvania.

Two strictly Pennsylvania regiments organized for the protection of the
province were the Pennsylvania Regiment of Musketry and the Pennsylvania
Rifle Regiment. They were authorized by a resolution of the Pennsylvania
Assembly, passed March 4, 1776. In the Rifle Regiment was the company
of Joseph Erwin, which was raised in Westmoreland county and enlisted for
two years. This company was afterwards transferred to the Thirteenth
Pennsylvania Regiment, and thence to the Second Pennsylvania, and was
finally discharged at Valley Forge in 1778, their time of enlistment having
expired. In 1777 a state regiment of foot was founded, and Captain Erwin's
company, under James Carnahan, Erwin having been promoted, was in-
cluded in it. They were at Brandywine and Germantown. They had also
been in the disastrous battle of Long Island when Generals Howe, Clinton
and Cornwallis, with the best equipped army in the world and the largest
British army that ever contended against American forces, thought they won
a great victory over the ragged and starving American troops under Gen-
erals Washington, Putnam, Miles, Sullivan and Stirling.

136 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

Captain James Carnahan lived in the northern part of Westmoreland
county. At the close of the Revolution he returned to our county, and in
the winter of 1786-87 he was drowned in the Allegheny river. He was the
father of Dr. James Carnahan, who was president of Princeton College from
1831 to 1853.

The Second Pennsylvania Regiment entered the service in October, 1776,
and with various changes remained till the close of the war, returning home
late in 1783. In the first years of its services in the war there were few if
any Westmoreland soldiers in it, but later on, when its hardships were greater,
there were very many from Westmoreland added to it, both by transfer from
other regiments and by recruits directly from the pioneer families. The list
is very imperfect, but it nevertheless discloses that many Westmoreland sol-
diers were killed while serving in it. Many others serving through the war
returned and spent their last years here, and their names may yet be read on
the mossy headstones of our old cemeteries. That they were under Generals
Anthony Wayne and Nathaniel Greene is sufficient evidence that they saw
much active service. They doubtless bore their part at Guilford Court House
and Ninety-Six, and finally at Yorktown. The only complete lists of this
regiment are said to have been destroyed by the British army when they
burned the capitol at Washington in 1814.

We have referred several times to the border troubles of Western Penn-
sylvania during the Revolution. Although we were far removed from the
actual fighting ground of the armies, the Indians were a much greater menace
to our people. Several attempts were made by Connolly, then in the British
service, to take the western part of our state from the dominion of our Colo-
nial army. Pittsburgh was to be -his headquarters, and all that saved us
from the additional misfortune was the unbending loyalty of our people.
The British, failing in this, allied themselves thoroughly with the Indians,
who were readily induced to annoy and harrass our almost defenseless pio-
neers. The Indians were by this time pushed west as far as the valley of
the Ohio river. Our Congress knew of this impending trouble, and that a daily
outbreak by the Indians was looked for. In 1776 Colonel George ]\Iorgan was
directed to negotiate with the tribes and endeavor to secure them as our allies,
or, failing in this, to induce them to remain neutral. A further committee
from Congress visited them, but, like ]\Iorgan, failed to accomplish anything
of permanent good. All this was promptly reported to Congress. They
traced their failure mainly to Governor Hamilton, who had been appointed
by the British, and had great power with the Shawnees and the Delawares.
The result was that all of the militia which our county could spare was moved
to Fort Pitt and to other western forts. Some of our forts having been long
since abandoned, were repaired and garrisoned. In furtherance of this project
the Eighth Pennsylvania Regiment was authorized by a resolution of Con-
gress, passe! July 15. 1776, and was designed for the special purpose of

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 137

protecting the frontier of Pennsylvania, particularly that part north of Pitts-
burgh, for the southern border, notably around Fort Pitt, had been in a meas-
ure protected all the time, and the fort itself had never been abandoned.
This regfiment had been mustered at Pittsburgh, and did duty along the fron-
tier during- the summer months of 1776. The officers were Colonels Aeneas
Rlackay and George Wilson, and ]\Iajor Richard Butler. Rev. David Mc-
Clure was appointed chaplain, and Ephraim Douglas quartermaster. Many
of the soldiers were from our county, for, to remain near home and protect
their own firesides and families, was doubtless more inviting to them than
service in the army with Washington. For that reason they enlisted most
readily, all of them between August 9 and December 16. But now large
additional reinforcements for the British army landed in New York, and
this demanded that all troops from every part of the army who could be spared
should be added at once to Washington's army. They had, therefore, scarcely
become settled in their posts on the frontier until Congress ordered them to
New Jersey to reinforce Washington's army, which was indeed sadly in
need of them. Orders were issued, and all troops were to assemble at Kittan-
ning on December 15, to begin a march of about five hundred miles on foot
across the Allegheny mountains, in the dead of winter. They were so poorly
clad that Colonel ]\Iackay wrote that he would be obliged to go by the way
of Philadelphia in order to secure clothes and other much needed supplies.
Colonel George Wilson, writing from Kittanning, December 5, to Colonel
James Wilson, among other things makes the following observations : "To
march east is disagreeable to me, for both officers and men understood when
entering the service that we were to defend the western frontier. Now to
leave their families in so defenseless a situation as they will be in their
absence seems to give great trouble here. But I hope we will leave some
of our trifling officers behind, who pretend to have more wit than seven men.
We are ill provided for a march at this season. We need tents, kettles,
blankets and clothes, that we may not cut a despicable figvire in the east. I
have recommended all to lay aside personal resentment and issued orders
to have your soldiers meet at Hannastown by December 15."

They left Hannastown and Kittanning on January 6, 1777, and made,
all things being considered, one of the most wonderful marches known in
the military history of America. They crossed the Allegheny mountains,
then across Pennsylvania, and across the Delaware into New Jersey. They
had no tents, were poorly clothed and poorly subsisted. They camped at
night on the snow, building fires to keep themselves from freezing. Many
of them died on the way. At Trenton, Colonel Mackay died, and, a few days
after. Colonel George Wilson, whose letter is quoted in part above, also died.
Both succumbed to. the hardships of this long wintry march. Many of the
soldiers who survived the march were laid up with a throat disease of a
putrid nature. After the deaths of Mackay and Wilson, Daniel Broadhead

138 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

was made colonel, Richard Butler lieutenant-colonel, and Stephen Bayard
major. Butler was shortly afterwards made lieutenant-colonel of Morgan's
rifle regiment, and Major James Ross took his place. There were ten com-
panies in the regiment, which numbered 681 soldiers in all, exclusive of the
ofilicers. Nearly all of them were enlisted from Westmoreland county, as
the» limits were then. Captain David Kilgore's company had 58 men ; Cap-
tain Samuel Miller's had 85 ; Captain Van Swearingen's had 74 ; Captain
Joseph Piggot's had 59; Captain Wendel Ourry's 59; Captain Andrew Mann's
62; Captain James Montgomery's 59; Captain Michael Hufifnagle's 74; Captain
John Finley's 79, and Captain Basil Prather's 73. In this regiment was Mat-
thew Jack, afterwards quite noted in Westmoreland, as shall be learned
later. He was wounded April 13. They had made the long march from
January 6 to about February 22.

The reader will recognize several old Westmoreland names in the list
of captains, among others that of Hufifnagle, the second prothonotary of West-
moreland county.

Several Westmoreland soldiers deserted on the long march, and, we be-
lieve, afterwards returned to the army and performed good service. It must
not be forgotten that to desert was not regarded as harshly as it is now. In the
Revolution many honest soldiers ran away in the spring to their crops, and
then returned to duty again. Washington readily saw the difference between
a genuine deserter and one whoi went home to assist his needy wife and chil-
dren.

The regiment was under General Benjamin Lincoln, and suffered severely
at Bound Brook, where they were attacked by Cornwallis. They stood up
and repulsed a charge of British bayonets at Paoli, and were also in the battles
of Ash Swamp, Brandywine and Germantown. Like all regiments in the
Revolution, it was often divided, and parts of it attached to other battalions.
Officers were also removed to other commands, and all this was apparently
necessary then, and was done much more extensively in the Revolution than
in later wars. The soldiers of the Revolution were generally enlisted for short
terms. It was not uncommon for them to serve a year or two and then go
home to provide for their families by repairing their houses, improving farms
and then return to the army. Their enlistments were for as long as they thought
their families could subsist without them. But in the meantime, the army had
to be kept up and in the best possible condition, for it was invariably called
on to meet larger numbers of trained British soldiers.

Some of our Westmoreland members of the Eighth Regiment re-enlisted,
and were sent with Morgan to fight the battle of Saratoga, and others with
Wayne to captuie Stony Point. They were nearly all at Valley Forge. On
March 5, 1778, after more than a year's service in the east, the regiment was
sent back to Pittsburgh to defend the frontier, for which purpose it was orig-
inally intended. This was necessary because of the constant Indian raids

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

139

made on the frontier, which is treated elsewhere. At Pittsburgh, they were
under the command of General Mcintosh. Captain iMatthew Jack has de-
scribed them as first going down the Ohio river to the mouth of the Beaver
river, where they built Fort Mcintosh, after which they journeyed to the
headwaters of the [Muskingum, in Ohio, where they built Fort Laurens. In
1779 they went up the Allegheny river about two hundred miles with Gen-
eral Broadhead's expedition and attacked the Indians at various points, de-
feating them and burning their towns. On their return, says Captain Jack,
who accompanied both expeditions, they were discharged because their term
of service had expired. The Eighth Pennsylvania Regiment was not dis-
banded, however, but was kept up by recruits from this county till the close
of the war, and most if not all of the time after their return from the east
in INIarch. 1778, they were doing frontier duty in and arbund Pittsburgh.

The name of Daniel Morgan will not soon be forgotten by the American
people. As the commander of Morgan's Rifles and as the hero of Cowpens.
his name will shine with star-brightened splendor as long as the American
people revere true courage and patriotism. It is not generally known how
closely his name is linked with Westmoreland soldiers in the Revolution.
Reference has already been made to his participation in Braddock's expe-
dition in the attempted capture of Fort Duquesne. The Eighth Regiment
was with him at Saratoga, as we have said, and one of his most trusted
colonels was our own Richard Butler. Morgan's corps was made up of the
best sharpshooters selected from all the American army, though the credit
of it is generally attributed to Virginia, because Morgan himself was a
Mrginian. In reality, the fifth company was commanded by Captain Van
Swearingen, of the Eighth Pennsylvania Regiment. In General James Wilk-
inson's memoirs, it is said there were 163 Virginians and 193 Pennsyl-
vanians, these two states furnishing the greater part of the corps, since the
entire regiment numbered only 508. The ofiicial name was not Morgan's
Rifles, as it is generally called, but "Morgan's Partisan Corps." It was or-
ganized for the special purpose of sharpshooting by Washington himself,
and he selected the officers with his well-known unerring judgment of
military men. Of their services at Saratoga. George Bancroft, the greatest
of Revolutionary historians, has the following: "In concurrence with the
advice of Arnold, Gates ordered out Morgan's riflemen and light infantry.
They put a picket to flight at a quarter past one, but retired before the di-
vision of Burgoyne. Leading his forces unmolested through the woods,
and securing his right by thickets and ravines, Morgan next fell unexpect-
edly upon the left of the British center division. To support him, Gates,
at two o'clock, sent out three New Hampshire battalions, of which that of
Scammel met the enemy in front, that of Lilly took them in flank. In a
warm engagement Morgan had his horse shot under him, and with his rifle-
men captured a cannon, but could not carry it off."

I40 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNT V.

General Henry L. Lee in his "Memoirs of the Revolution in the South-
ern States," speaks of Colonel Butler as the renowned second and rival of
Morgan in the Saratoga encounter. But this is not all. Captain \'an
Swearingen and Lieutenants Basil, Prather and John Hardin were all West-
morelanders and were with Morgan, and all of them rendered distinguished
services, particularly in the many encounters which resulted in the over-
throw and capture of Burgoyne's army. Van Swearingen was probably the
most noted captain of the regiment. On September 9, 1777, he and twenty
of his men were captured by a charge of the British into the heart of Mor-
gan's force. He was taken before General Fraser, who wanted him to
give information concerning the strength of the American forces. The
captain persistently refused to answer, except that it was commanded by
Generals Gates and Arnold. Upon this the general said he would hang him,
but the only words elicited were, "You may if you wish," and then General
Fraser rode away, but first handed him over to Sergeant Dunbar and Lieu-
tenant Aubury, who had him guarded with other prisoners, but gave orders
that he should not be illtreated. Not long after this Burgoyne's army was
captured, and Van Swearingen made every exertion to have Dunbar and
Aubury exchanged. But a moment after General Fraser rode away, he was
seen from a long distance by Morgan. He ordered Timothy Murphy, from
Northumberland county, one of his best sharpshooters, to shoot him. with
the result that Fraser fell from his horse dead, almost immediately after
threatening to hang Van Swearingen. Van Swearingen returned to West-
moreland from the army, and was afterwards the first sheriff of Washing-
ton county. Another company of Morgan's Rifles was commanded by Major
James Parr, of Westmoreland, and was sent to western New York to defend
the frontier against the Indians, after which they came to Tioga and united
with General Sullivan's army in his campaign against the Indians, who
were engaged in the Massacre of Wyoming. Other Westmoreland soldiers
were with ]\Iorgan when he won his greatest honors in the south, from
which he is remembered as the "Hero of Cowpens."

Lieutenant John Hardin, of the Eighth Pennsylvania Regiment, after
the war was over removed from our county to Kentucky, where he is
remembered as General Hardin. He took a prominent part in the Indian
warfare conducted in the west by Generals Harmar and St. Clair, and rose
to distinction in arms. He was murdered by the Indians near Sandusky,
in 1791. We think he was the father of General Benjamin Hardin, a con-
temporary of Henry Clay, and one of the ablest lawyers Kentucky has yet
produced.

Aeneas Mackay, who was so prominent in those days, was born in
South Carolina, in 1721. The first mention of him seems to be that when
Washington was at Great Meadows, and was building Fort Necessity, in
1754, he was reinforced by Captain Aeneas Mackay with one hundred soldiers

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 141

from South Carolina. There, without as much grace as he showed later in hfe,
he resented the idea of serving under Washington, who was a mere un-
known backwoods mihtiaman, while he was commissioned by the King.
After leaving Great Meadows he took his company to Will's Creek, where
he assisted in building Fort Cumberland, which was named after the Duke
of Cumberland, a name the city built there bears yet. Later he was for
several years commander of the garrison at Fort Ligonier, under the commis-
sion of the King of England. From his Bible it is learned that his son
Samuel was born there on July 20, 1766. The same year he was moved to
Fort Pitt. He was a tower of strength in Dunmore's war over the bound-
ary question, and was appointed a justice in Westmoreland county. His
death, as colonel of the Eighth Pennsylvania Regiment, as a result of the
long march from Westmoreland to New Jersey, has been mentioned else-
where. He died Februaiy 14, 1777, and was buried in the "Presbyterian
bur^-ing ground" at Trenton, New Jersey. His wife was born in New
York, and was afterwards married to George Adams, of Pittsburgh. His
daughter Elizabeth was married to Stephen Bayard. Had Mackay lived
through the Revolution he would undoubtedly have made for himself an
enviable name in our military annals, for he was a man of superior char-
acter, training and courage.

Stephen Bayard was born January 23, 1744, of an old family in Mary-
land. Early in life he was a Philadelphia merchant, and in the beginning
of the Revolution raised a company in Philadelphia, of which he was
niadt captain. The company was part of St. Clair's expedition to Quebec.
Later he served under Richard Butler, and was with the Eighth Regi-
ment when it returned from Valley Forge to Pittsburgh. He was a colonel
under Broadhead when he conquered the Indians in Ohio, and up the
Allegheny river. In 1781 he commanded the regiment at Fort Pitt. After
the Revolution he located in Pittsburgh and became wealthy. He had taken
up large tracts of land on the Alonongahela river, and on one of them
founded a boat-building town which he named after his wife Elizabeth,
which yet bears her name. In the war of 1812 President Aladison offered
him a major general's commission, but he wisely declined it because of his
age. He died in Pittsburgh, December 13, 1815.

George Wilson, lieutenant-colonel of the Eighth Regiment, was a na-
tive of Augusta county, Virginia. He was an officer in the French and
Indian war, and settled in Westmoreland county shortly after the close of
the war. He was appointed a justice, first for Bedford county, and later,
when our county was erected, held the same position here for many years.
He was also, as will be remembered, one of the trustees appointed to locate
the county seat of Westmoreland county. Of course he was a leading spirit
in Dunmore's war, and was one of the justices whom Connolly arrested.
Rather than give bail he was taken to Staunton in irons. He died like

142 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

Colonel Mackay, from the effects of the long march to New Jersey. His
death occurred in April, 1777, and he was buried at Ouibbletown.

Daniel Broadhead commanded our Westmoreland soldiers in the army
frequently, but had no other special connection with our county as it is
now bounded. He was a native of New York, and was afterwards survey-
or-general of Pennsylvania.

The Butler family was purely a Westmoreland family and it was the
most noted family we produced during the Revolution. Their father was
Thomas Butler, who was born in Ireland, and three of his sons were also
born there, viz. : Richard, William and Thomas. Richard, as will be recalled,
was lieutenant-colonel of Morgan's Rifle Regiment. From his first con-
nection with the regiment he drilled them at all reasonable hours, and much
of the honor they gained was doubtless due to the pains he took in prepar-
ing them for future actions. Butler was with Wayne when he charged up
Stony Point, and was prominent at the last when Cornwallis was compelled
to surrender to Washington. In 1790 he was appointed a major-general,
but unfortunately, as we have said, he was killed the following year (1791)
while fighting the Indians in Ohio with St. Clair. It is well authenticated
that on the night before the battle, knowing more about Indian warfare
than St. Clair, he said to him, "I have some good wine here, general ; let us
eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die."

Thomas Butler was a law student in Philadelphia in 1776. when the
Revolution was beginning to be thoroughly felt in that city. He enlisted
as a private and rose to the rank of captain, serving till the close of the war,.
It was he whom General Washington publicly thanked at the battle of'
Brandywine. At the battle of Monmouth he defended a dangerous ravine,
while his brother Richard's regiment was retreating through it. For this
he received the thanks of General Wayne. He was also in the Ohio Indian
battle with St. Clair in 1791, as commander of a battalion. St. Clair in that
battle ordered a bayonet charge. Thomas Butler was on horseback and
had had his leg broken by a ball, yet in this painful condition he led the
charge. He was removed from the field by a third brother, Edward.
Thomas died September 5, 1805.

Percival, the fourth son, was born in Carlisle, and entered the Revolu-
tion when eighteen years old, as a lieutenant. He was at Valley Forge,
Monmouth and Yorktown, and was greatly trusted by General Washing-
ton. He moved to Kentucky in 1784, and was adjutant general of that state
in the war of 1812.

Edward was too young to enter the Revolution, but was a captain in
St. Clair's army in 1791, and in 1794 was adjutant-general of General
Wayne's army.

The mother o'f the Butler brothers was a strong-minded, patriotic woman
who was willing to part with her husband and sons, and endure the hard-

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 143

ships wliich their absence added to her life, if only the cause of the colonies
might thereby be advanced. It was probably this that led Washington, at
his own table, surrounded by army officers, to propose that toast. "The
Butlers and their five sons." Lafayette at one time said that when he
wanted anything well done he ordered a Butler to do it.

.-Vt the surrender of Cornwallis, Baron Steuben had command of the
trenches when the white flag was sent out by the British. While the terms
of surrender were being considered by Washington and his generals,
Lafayette's division marched up to relieve Steuben, the time for relief hav-
ing arrived. But the Baron did not want to be relieved then, for he knew
that the surrender would soon be at hand, and wanted the honor of hoisting
the flag. Washington decided that neither he nor Lafayette should hoist
it, but gave the honor to Ebenezer Denny, of Pittsburgh. But when the
ensign was about to plant it, Steuben, perhaps in excitement, hurried for-
ward, took the flag and hoisted it himself. Richard Butler thought this an
insult to the Pennsylvania troops and challenged Steuben. Both these men
had rendered great services to the colonial army, and there was too much
glory in the army now to allow two of its best officers to engage in a deadly
conflict : but it required all the efiforts of Washington, Hamilton and
Rochambeau to prevent the duel. It is but fair to say that the Butlers, while
coming from Westmoreland, were from that part of it now included in Alle-
gheny county.

Colonel James Smith has often been referred to as early even as in
Braddock's march. He was, indeed, a very important factor in the early
annals of our county. He was born in Cumberland county, perhaps in a
part that is now Bedford county, in 1737. In 1755 he was hunting near
Bedford, and was captured by the Indians. He was a prisoner in Fort Du-
quesne on July 9, 1755, and heard and saw the preparations made between
Beaujeu and the Indians to surprise Braddock's army. Much of the in-
formation concerning that attack comes from his writings. He escaped
from the Indians in 1760 and went to Franklin county. His natural ability
and his kno;ivledge of the Indians, gained while a captive, made him valu-
able to Bouquet in his Ohio expedition in 1764, when he served as an en-
sign. Later he was a lieutenant in the militia of Western Pennsylvania.
In 1769 and '70 he purchased lands along Jacob's creek and on the Yough-
iogheny river. In 1774 he assisted St. Clair in organizing the Rangers to
protect our frontier against Dunmore's invasions, and was one of the mem-
bers of the Hannastown convention on May 16. 1775, which adopted the
celebrated resolutions previously referred to. He was also one of the Asso-
ciators called for in those resolutions. Later he was elected a member of
the convention of July 15. 1776, and was elected to the assembly of the
state in i/yS-'jj. Here he was kr>own as an authority on Indian aflfairs,
and respected for his knowledge of border warfare. The assembly was

144

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY

in session in Philadelphia in 1777, and at his own request he was granted a
leave of absence to conduct a scouting party through New Jersey. He re-
mained in Washington's division of the army, and in 1778 was made a
colonel, and sent to Western Pennsylvania, where he performed valuable
services in the continuous warfare against the Indians. In 1788 he re-
moved to Kentucky, where he was again a member of the assembly,
though of another state. In 1812 he wrote "A Treatise on the Mode and
Manner af Indian War," with many extracts from his journal kept when
a prisoner among the Indians. It is a valuable work because of its simplic-
ity, and contains much information about the habits of a race now almost
extinct. He died in Washington county, Kentucky, in 181 2.

CHAPTBR XI

The Closing Years of the Revohition.— Indians, Hard Times.— Locliry's and Crawford':
Ill-Fated Expeditions.

After perusing a preceding chapter the reader can form some idea of the
condition of our county in 1779 and '80. With many soldiers in the field,
our ranging parties, performing almost daily duty, and, the militia constantly
guarding the forts, agricultural interests were sadly neglected and many
homes were reduced to absolute want. Many had left their western homes
for more peaceful habitations east of the mountains. It was not unusual to
find several families living in one house or cabin, which, if strongly barri-
caded, afforded a comparatively safe place of refuge from the Indians. There
were not men enough to guard all of the houses, and by uniting them they
felt more secure. There were scarcely men enough to gather their scanty
crops. Sometimes they were not permitted to sow their ground in the spring,
and some who sowed amid dangers in the spring were unable to reap in the
fall. Often the husband and older sons went to the field in the morning and
never returned. Often, also, upon their return at night, they found the family
had been either captured or murdered. From 1778 to 1782 there was scarcely
a family within the limits of our present county that had bread sufficient
to subsist on Jrom fall till spring. Their live stock was destroyed and stolen.
With all their vigilance in watching the enemy there was scarcely a week that
some depredation was not committed. Men, women and children were taken
prisoners and carried away, and nothing was heard from them for months
or years, and often they were never heard of again. This apparently never-
ending war induced the authorities to offer and from time to time to in-
crease the bounty on scalps of Indians.

Reference has been made heretofore to a scalp bounty paid regularly by
the English. The fact is abundantly proved by the archives of New York
and Pennsylvania, and the history of the Revolutionary period ; and, it mav
be said, the thrilling, blood-curdling stories told by novelists of the present
day are by no means without ample foundation.

But. on the other hand, the Indian was rightly regarded as the natural

146 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

enemy of the white man, and it soon became the belief of the pioneers that
the only solution to the question was the utter extermination of the native
Indian race. From an early date the Proprietors offered a bounty for the
scalps of Indian warriors. In 1756 (says Craig in "Early Pittsburgh") Gov-
ernor Morris offered one hundred and fifty Spanish dollars for every male
Indian above the age of twelve years taken prisoner and delivered to the
authorities ; for the scalp of every male Indian over twelve years old taken
in war, one hundred and thirty Spanish dollars ; for every male or female
prisoner under twelve years old, one hundred and thirty Spanish dollars ;
for the scalp of every Indian woman, produced with evidence of being killed,
fifty dollars. These bounties were payable by the commanders of the forts
that were kept up by the province, upon the delivery of the prisoner or scalps
with proper proofs ; the jail keepers at the county seats were also authorized
to pay for them. In 1764 Governor Penn ofifered a reward of $150 for every
male Indian prisoner over ten years old, and $134 for his scalp when killed.
For every male or female under ten years of age when captured, $130, or
$50 for the scalp when killed. About 1782 there was a standing reward of
$100 for a dead Indian's scalp, and $150 for the Indian if captured alive and
brought to the garrison. The same ofifer was made for all white men taken
prisoner while aiding the Indians. Colonel Samuel Hunter, Colonel Jacob
Stroud and others in Westmoreland were authorized to offer the rewards.
In a letter to President Reed the former says that he has just organized a
party to go scalp-hunting, and that though they do not make as much out
of a dead Indian as out of a living one, yet it was much less trouble and
much more agreeable to the hunters to shoot him at once and scalp him than
to be bothered carrying him along as a prisoner. Colonel Archibald Lochry,
the county lieutenant, wrote from his house near Latrobe that there was no
doubt but that the reward would answer a good end. He also in the same
letter asks for more ammunition to supply the parties of scalp-hunters. But
Colonel Hunter reported later an unsuccessful return of his party so far as
procuring scalps was concerned, and in reply. President Reed told him to
be of good cheer, and expressed a hope that another hunting excursion would
prove more successful. Many scalps were thus taken, and on one occasion
thirteen, with accompanying certificates, were sent in at one time. The scalp-
hunting business reached its highest point in 1781 and 1782, if the Colonial
records are to be believed. It must not be forgotten that the Indians were
all these years engaged in the same business, and that thev scalped men,
women and children, and even innocent babes.

A person who was scalped was always supposed to be killed, though
we have instances of some who survived the injury. The scalping itself did
not kill the prisoner, for it consisted in the taking of the skin only from the
crown of the head— a piece about four inches in circumference. This op-
eration was performed by taking a firm hold of the hair with the left hand,

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 147

and, when the skin was slightly drawn away from the bone, a sharp knife
readily severed a circular piece from the head. It was a custom prevalent
among the Indians in warfare among themselves when the first Europeans
arrived, and was probably then only used to verify the number of the enemy
they had slain. The greed for scalps was afterwards induced by the re-
wards ofifered. It will be recalled that this greed for scalps and spoils on
the part of the Indians saved Braddock's army from complete annihilation.

This method of warfare was perhaps questionable, but the exigencies of
the times prompted it. The bounty was rarely ever taken by the settlers.
But whether the theory was right or wrong, they never offered a bounty
for scalps of friendly Indians. Perhaps sometimes a dishonest settler did not
discriminate between a friendly and a hostile Indian, but nevertheless the
government itself was actuated by good intentions towards all but the hos-
tile warrior. On this question Colonel Broadhead, in a letter to President
Reed, says that about forty friendly Delaware Indians had come to assist
the white settlers in the frontier war, and that a party of about fortv white
men from the region of Hannastown attempted to destroy them, and were
only prevented from doing so by his soldiers. He says in the same letter
that he could have gotten one hundred Indians to join him had it not been
for such open enmity as was evinced by these men from Hannastown. Among
the Hannastown party were Captains Irwin and Jack, Lieutenant Brownlee
and Ensign Guthrie, all of whom were gallant rangers who had more than
once risked their lives in the frontier warfare. Colonel Broadhead, how-
ever, knew as much of the Indians as any man of his day, and had fought
them as effectually as any one since the days of Bouquet. Yet he says dis-
tinctly that the whites were themselves in part to blame for their great trouble
with the red men. His statement has always been considered detrimental
to the good names of the rangers mentioned in his letter. It is more likely,
however, that these rangers did not know or did not believe that the forty
Indians were friendly ones in reality. The well known treachery of the
race was ever present in the minds of the white man. The modern saying
that the only good Indian is a dead one undoubtedly existed in the minds
of the rangers long ago. No men were more anxious to add strength to the
white man's camp than Irwin, Jack and Brownlee, and no men ran greater
risks in trying to preserve order than they, as will be seen later on. But, on
the other hand, it is likewise true that if they believed the forty friendly
Indians were treacherous, no set of men could have exterminated them in
shorter time than forty rangers headed by such men as Jack, Irwin, Brown-
lee and Guthrie. This is, at least, a charitable view of Colonel Broadhead's
letter, and we believe is not unduly fair to the rangers.

Judge Wilkinson, in the American Pioneer, says the scalp bountv law was
brought into disrepute by killing friendly Indians to sell their scalps. There
was no bounty durmg the Revolution on Indian prisoners, and this led to the

148 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

death of some. Moreover, a friendly Indian was much more easily scalped
than a hostile one. At all events, the abuse of the law, says the above writer,
"brought the scalp bounty measure into disrepute," and it was rightfully re-
pealed. It had onlv been ofifered to encourage settlers to sustain the soldiers
in battle.

The Indian troubles had thus been going on from bad to worse since
the beginning of the Revolution, and in February and March, 1781, a plan
of defense was suggested by General George Rogers Clark, and concurred
in by Broadhead and Lochry. It was to take an army into the heart of the
Indian country, to burn their houses, devastate their country, and destroy
their warriors, and to so weaken them that they would thereafter be unable
to disturb the settlers of Western Pennsylvania. It was not a new plan in
Indian warfare, for it was practically the same that was adopted success-
fully by Broadhead in his movements down the Ohio and up the Allegheny
in 1778. It was little other than the plan with which Scipio Africanus
had electrified the Roman senate two thousand years before, when the great
Carthagenian was threatening the Eternal City. The plan was laid before
Washington and' Jefferson, and met with their approval, and was likewise
approved bv the supreme executive council, though they averred that they
could do but little for the project because all of the troops that Pennsylvania
could spare were then with General Nathanael Greene in the south. All the
council could do was to encourage the Westmoreland people to assist in the
project in every way possible. Christopher Hays was then the Westmore-
land member of the council, and was opposed to the expedition, doubtless
from fear of the result. Colonel Archibald Lochry, the county lieutenant,
was the foremost man in the project after Clark, and had in his spirit of
patriotic zeal taken upon himself to raise all the soldiers in Westmoreland
county he could. All were bitter against Hays. There were many bickerings
and jealousies among the leaders, notwithstanding the universal suilfering,
and these weakened the cause a great deal. Each leader seemed to have a
corresponding enemy who villified him. Broadhead, Lochry, Perry and oth-
ers were accused of having misappropriated public money and speculating
in ammunition and whisky furnished by the council for the troops. The
charges were probably all groundless. Early in 1781 the council became
alarmed at the threatenings of the Indians, and at the delay in raising the
soldiers for the expedition, which they thought was occasioned by incom-
petency and by jealous feelings among the leading men. They therefore
directed Lochry, the leader of the forces here, to raise at once a company
of fifty volunteers enlisted for a four months campaign, and promised to add
a full company, all to be under Lochry, and to carry the war into the Indian
country, and to be posted as he might direct. David Duncan was appointed
commissioner of supplies in place of James Perry, the latter, either through
inefificiency or negligence, having proved very unsatisfactory in his admin-

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 149

istration of the office. President Reed, in a letter to Lochry, says, "It is with
much concern that we hear that when troops are raised for your protection,
thev are permitted to loiter away their time at taverns or straggling about
the country." He had probably received this information from those who
were jealous of Lochry. He also advises that all troops should be moved
from Hannastown and sent where they could be of more service. He evi-
dently did not understand the Hannastown situation. Lochry replied in good
style under date of April, 1781, and reported that the savages had already
begun their hostilities in four places on the frontier, and had either killed
or taken prisoners thirteen settlers, two of whom had been murdered
within one mile of Hannastown. He wrote further that the country was
more nearly depopulated than ever before, and that the condition on the
frontier would be much worse if their real weakness was known to the en-
emy. (See Pa. Arch., Vol. 9, p. 79.) He lamented the scarcity of provisions
to supply the militia, and reported that ammunition was so scarce among the
settlers that he was compelled to supply them with a part of the supply in-
tended for the army. Lochry had built a magazine and blockhouse on his
place in Lenity township, where he meant to keep the army stores and am-
munition. President Reed disapproved of this, and directed that thev should
be kept in the garrisons.

The plan in general was known as Clark's plan, and its movements were
minutely disclosed in a letter written by him to the council on June 3, 1781.
There were two objective points, viz. : First, the houses built by the Shawnee
and Delaware Indians, west of the Scioto river, in Ohio; and second, the
Sandusky tribes, which had gradually been pushed west from the Allegheny
river section. His outline plan suggested that if the Westmoreland expedi-
tion under Lochry should march against the Sandusky tribes, he might lead
an army against the Shawnees and Delawares in the southern part of Ohio.
After each army had accomplished the object of its expedition, they should
unite and pursue the Indians still further, if necessary. One party would
thus support 'the other, and the extermination of these tribes could thus be
so complete that further molestations from them need not be feared by our
Western Pennsylvania borders. If the military of the state was so weak that
two armies could not be furnished, then one stronger than either should do
the work of both, and it should be provisioned according to the magnitude
of the undertaking, which, he intimated, was indeed an arduous one. Clark
was a brave, cool man of genius, and his character and reputation as a sol-
dier were well known in Westmoreland county. It was expected that our
people, inspired by the faith they had in him, would flock to his assistance.
Three hundred men had been promised from Washington and Westmoreland
counties, but from all this section only two of the leading men of Westmore-
land came forth to assist him. The reason lay not in their lack of faitli in
Clark, nor in the project, but they were simply afraid to leave their homes

1.50, HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNT)'.

and families, exposed as they would have been to the merciless attack of the
red men, whose depredations were every day growing bolder and more inhuman.
Broadhead also, from feelings of jealousy referred to above, discouraged the
project by talking of organizing an expedition himself, and called on the young
men of the country to join him. Lochry's reputation had unjustly suffered
somewhat from the spirit of jealousy referred to, and he probably longed for
an opportunity to show the people that he had only the good of the country
at heart. Both Clark and Lochry determined not to wait any longer on volun-
teers from Western Pennsylvania. Clark had a small force at and around
Fort Pitt, but he depended mainly for his forces on the settlements along the
Ohio river, and on Kentucky, for all were interested in punishing the Indians.
Lochry brought his forces together at Carnahan's blockhouse, a stronghold
about ten miles northwest of Hannastown. Among them were Captain Rob-
ert Orr, a friend of Lochry's of long standing, and an officer in the militia.
Orr had furthermore induced many of the militia to join Lochry. Captains
Thomas Stokes and Samuel Shearer each headed a small band of Westmore-
land rangers, and Captain Charles Campbell had a squad of men on horseback.
On July 25th they left Carnahan's for Fort Henry, now the industrious city of
Wheeling. It is acknowledged by all that the men of our county whom Lochry
took with him were the best Indian fighters we had ; in fact, none but the most
daring and active young men could engage in such a project. All were poorly
equipped for such a journey. Stokely's company was described as being liter-
ally half naked. Outfits for all of them had been promised by President Reed,
and their expected arrival delayed the expedition. When finally they failed
to arrive, many who meant to join them were compelled to remain behind.
The outfit which might have helped them a great deal arrived after they had
left. Ensign \/illiam Cooper hurried on with it, but it never reached them.
Lochry's entire command when he started numbered one hundred and seven
men.

Fort Pitt was also to send out troops under Captain Isaac Craig. They
were to join Clark's forces in company with some troops from Kentucky at
Louisville. The Kentucky troops failed to meet them, and all of Craig's forces
returned to Fort Pitt. Clark had collected from Redstone, Ohio and Kentucky
about seven hundred and fifty men. Lochry was to join Clark at Wheeling,
but when they reached that point they found that Clark had gone on, leaving
a boat and some provisions for Lochry, with instructions to follow and join
him twelve miles belov/. Lochry's army was delayed at Wheeling fitting out
additional boats, and when he reached the designated point of meeting twelve
miles below he found that Clark had left it the day before, but had left orders
for him to follow and join at the mouth of the Kanawha river. But Lochry
was now about out of provisions and ammunition both, and the outlook was
growing darker each day. His forces, if joined to Clark's would have been
safe enough, but when alone they were at best at the mercy of the enemy.

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 151

Clark did not know for a certanity that Lochry was on the way. But the
undaunted Lochry journeyed on towards the mouth of the Kanawha. Here
again he arrived too late. Clark had erected a pole on the bank of the river,
and on it was a letter to Lochry directing him to follow on down the river to the
falls in the Ohio, where now stands the city of Louisville. Clark, however,
was doing the best he could. First, he had no evidence that Lochry was on the
way at all, and to leave provisions taken from his already scanty supply, with no
assurance that Lochry would get them, was more than should be expected.
Second, his men were rapidly becoming impatient to go out and give battle
to the Indians, and return to their homes, where they were doubtless badly
needed. They were deserting, and the only way he could hold them together
at all was by moving towards the enemy.

Nothing was left for Lochry to do but to go down the river. Yet, without
provisions and with but little ammunition and nothing in the country to draw
from, his advance must indeed have looked very gloomy. Nor could he now
hope to overtake Clark, for his boats were clumsy and poorly manned by pilots
who knew nothing of the channel or the surrounding country. The best he
could do was to dispatch Captain Shannon in a boat with three or four men,
hoping that a lighter craft might overtake Clark's army and secure supplies, etc.
Shannon and his party were captured by the Indians, and with them a letter
from Lochry to Clark, which gave them some idea of the weak condition of
Lochry's forces. The Indians, as was afterwards learned, were only prevented
from attacking Lochry's army by a fear that Clark might have forces near
enough to assist him. Moreover, while Lochry was in the middle of the river,
an attack would have been very serious on the part of the Indians. But from
deserters from Clark's army whom they captured, they learned pretty nearly
the true situation, and rapidly collected large forces of Indians near the mouth
of the Miami river. They then stationed their prisoners on a small island
on the Ohio side of the river, where they could see any craft which might
pass down t^ie Ohio. They were to hail the expedition as it came down the
stream and induce them to land on the island. Should they succeed in this
treachery, they were to be set free, and if they failed to perform their part
they were to be put to death. But Lochry's men landed on the Ohio side,
about three miles above the island, near the mouth of a small creek which
yet bears his name, being known as Lochry's creek. He has been criticised
for landing at all, and thus making his capture possible. He knew more about
Indian warfare than any of his modern critics do, and his landing was probably
a matter of necessity. He landed at a place of peculiar beauty even to this day,
and his starving horses were turned out to graze, for the bank was rich in
herbage. One oi his men killed a buffalo, and there was plenty to eat for all his
forces. This was about 10 o'clock a. m., August 24, 1781. Clark, if at the falls,
was yet one hundred and twenty miles down the river, but with refreshed

rs2 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

troops and horses this distance might easily be covered in three or four days,
and the hopes of the soldiers ran high.

But the Indians had their scouts out along both banks, and the news of
the landing was soon made known to their main forces. Without the slightest
warning, as was the Indian custom, came the leaden hail and the well known
Indian yell from a bluff near by. This bluff was covered with large trees,
and from behind these and among their branches the six hundred and forty-
eight assailants fought at a great advantage. Lochry's men sprang to their
guns, and while their ammunition lasted defended themselves as well as they
could. When it was exhausted they made for their boats, but by this time the
Indians had closed in on them, and at once took them prisoners. Not one of
them escaped capture. Lochry was killed soon after being taken. He had with
him one hundred and six men when he landed, of whom forty-two were killed
and sixty-four were captured. The prisoners, their arms, etc., were divided
among all the tribes represented in the attack, in proportion to the number of
each tribe. They were thus separated, but nearly all were held captive until
the fall of 1782, when they were collected by the British officers and exchanged
for prisoners whom the American army had captured. All whom the English
ransomed were taken to Montreal, but in the meantime a few had escaped.
In the spring of 1783 most of them sailed for New York, and thus returned to
Westmoreland county, after an absence of twenty-two months.

More than half of the one hundred and seven men who left Carnahan's
never returned, and until their return very little was heard of them. On the
return of Captain Craig's troops he could scarcely be persuaded that Lochry
had not returned before. Isaac Anderson and Richard Wallace were
taken to Montreal and escaped. After long marches through the gloomy
forests they reached Philadelphia, and sent a letter to the council telling who
they were and how they had reached the city. They asked for clothing and
money to take them home to Westmoreland county. Captain Orr had his arm
broken in the fight. He was taken to Sandusky and thence to Detroit, and
finally to Montreal, where he was exchanged. Samuel Craig, a lieutenant in
Orr's company, from Derry township, was taken prisoner. As the Indians
were crossing a river they threw him overboard, intending to drown him, but
he was a splendid swimmer, and repeatedly made his way to the canoe, and,
with his hands on the sides, tried to climb in. They beat him over the
hands with the oars and pressed his head under the water as often as he came
to the surface for breath. Finally, when he was about exhausted, an Indian
claimed him as his own, and took him into the boat. In his long captivity
Craig suffered perhaps more than any other. Several times both he and his
captors came near starving. He had a cheerful disposition and was a good
singer, and the Indians loved his songs. At one time thev grew tired of their
prisoners and took them all out and placed them in a row on a log. Thev then
blackened their faces, which meant that thev were to he killed. But iust then

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 153

Craig began to sing as loud and well as he could. This so pleased the Indians
that they spared his life, while all the others were murdered. Soon after this
he was. sold to a British officer for a gallon of whisky. After his return he was
married to a daughter of John Shields, and left a family of five sons and two
daughters. He was by trade a fuller, and built a fulling mill on the banks of
the Loyalhanna, near New Alexandria. Another survivor from Lochry's army
was James Kane, who was for nearly a life time a court-cryer under Judge John
Young, of Greensburg. He died in 1845.

Archibald Lochry was one of the strongest men in Westmoreland in Revo-
lutionary days. He was of North-Irish extraction, but was born in the Octo-
raro settlement, for he was an ensign in the Second Battalion in the provincial
service. Both he and his brother \^'illiam were appointed justices in Bedford
county at its organization, and later when Westmoreland was organized, he
was made a justice here, as the reader has seen. He very early took up a large
tract of land in what is now Unity township. It is on the south side of the
turnpike between Greensburg and Youngstown, and near St. Xavier's Convent.
The land has since added great wealth to the county, for it is within the cele-
brated Connellsville coal belt, and is underlaid with a thick vein of coal. His
correspondence is generally dated at "Twelve Mile Run," the name of a small
stream on his land which flows into the "Fourteen IMile Run," which in turn
flows into the Loyalhanna fourteen miles below Fort Ligonier. His services
as county lieutenant, then a position of great importance, though now unknown,
made him very nearly if not quite our ablest man after General St. Clair, of
the Revolutionary period. His name has been spelled differently from the
spelling here. We take this from his will which he signs, "A. Lochry." It is
recorded in will book No. i, page 31, of the Westmoreland recorder's office.
His will appoints John Proctor, his neighbor, as his sole executor, and letters
were granted to him July 11, 1782. His ill-fated expedition, while it seemingly
accomplished but little, was necessary to work out our final peace and harmony
on the western border. As long as Westmoreland people revere the struggles
and courage of their pioneer ancestry, will the name of Archibald Lochry be
held in highest esteem.

It is hardly fair to the Indian not to tell his side of this most important
feature of our pioneer history. It is, moreover, necessary to know something
of both sides in order to judge correctly of either. It has been our purpose
to take the reader outside of the present limits of our county as little as possi-
ble, except in matters in which our people were directly interested. We are
now to go outside of Westmoreland for by far the bloodiest chapter in our
work, and are happy to say that our people were in no way connected with it.

The Moravian Church in the eastern part of Pennsylvania sent mission-
aries among the Indians of our section as early as 1769. In every section these
missionaries made themselves felt and in one or two tribes they had quite a
following. But whether a tribe was Christianized or not, all were alike slowly

154

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

pushed westward by advancing civilization. In 1780 a colony known as the
Moravian Indians, who had embraced that faith of religion, were located on
the Tuscarawas river, in Ohio, in what is now Tuscarawas county. Here they
lived at peace with all mankind, and, having abandoned the nomadic nature of
the average Indian, had acquired considerable personal property and had better
houses than the average of their race. Their preacher was Rev. John Hecke-
welder. They had three villages on the Tuscarawas, about six miles apart,
which were regarded as a model of Indian civilization, and of what might be
<lone generally for the race by Christianity. They were about midway between
the hostile tribes or western Indians and the frontier settlements of Pennsylva-
nia. Both the Pennsylvania settlers and the Indians west of them frequently
passed through or near the Moravian settlements in going to war. and often
through kindness they entertained representatives of both parties on their way
to battle. This brought them into bad odor with each, and they were frequently
mistreated by both sides. Broadhead with his army in 1780 had passed near
their settlements, and he and his soldiers respected their rights. Their minister
visited him and he forbade any of his soldiers interfering with them. In 1781
the militia from Washington county (which had suffered much from other
tribes but none from the Moravians) concluded to destroy them. It was easier
to fight and scalp resistless Indians than the average savage. Colonel David
Williamson led tne party. The Moravian tribe had, on several occasions,
warned the white race of intended Indian raids from the farther west. This
was learned by the British, who had their towns partly destroyed by white
Tories under the leadership of Girty and [McKee. They hoped thus to force
the peaceable Moravians to make war on the white settlers. Though they were
then driven from their homes many of them had gone back, and were living in
their old places in 1782, when David Williamson's party of Washington county
militia arrived. This party consisted of about ninety men. A few were from
settlements on the Ohio river, below Pittsburgh, but the large majority of
them came from the central part of what is now Washington county. It is
said that they coveted the fine horses of the Moravians.

Williamson and his party represented themselves as friendly to them, and
as coming to defend them from the attack of Girty, JMcKee and others. They
thus secured possession of their towns, and then disclosed their real purposes by
taking them all as prisoners, confining them in log houses, and proceeding to de-
liberate as to what they should do with them. Williamson knew that to put the
average Indian to death would have added to their glory, but he was afraid to
do so in this case. So they lined up the militia and allowed them to vote as to
whether the prisoners should be put to death or taken in captivity to Pitts-
burgh. Only eighteen voted in favor of taking them, the others, about seventy,
voting that they should be put to death. The cringing Indians were then told
to prepare for death. On hearing this they began to sing and pray as they
had been taught by their pious minister. To make a show of reason for this

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 155

outrage, they were charged with many things they had not done, such as har-
boring hostile Indians and steaHng property. To this they answered that they
had not refused shelter to either the white or the Indian race, and had never
knowingly aided any one who was intent on committing depredations. To
all charges they answered equally well, offering, by the way, to show all the
propertv they had to prove that none of it was stolen. But they were told to
prepare for death. They then asked for more time to sing and pray and this
was granted. They asked forgiveness as they had been taught to do, and bade
each other good-bye, but in the hope of a speedy reunion after death. Some of
the murderers outside were impatient for the slaughter, and they moreover
could not agree as to the manner in which they should be put to death. Many
wanted to burn the house? in which they were imprisoned, and shoot all who
would attempt to escape the flames. This was objectionable because it would
destroy the scalps, from which they hoped to realize a handsome revenue. The
eighteen members of the militia washed their hands of all complicity in the
affair, and there is no evideijce that any of them took any part in it. One of
the murderers took a cooper's mallet and began killing them by breaking
their skulls. He kept this up until he had killed fourteen, and then complained
that his arm was tired and handed his mallet, wreaking with blood, to another.
In this way all were put to death save two boys, one of whom had hidden in a
cellar; the other, surviving the stroke of the mallet and the removal of his
scalp, escaped that night. Thus, quotes one writer on the subject. "By the
mouth of two witnesses shall these things be established." When all had been
murdered the dead bodies were put in one house, which was fired. They then
started home, and on their way met a body of friendly Delawares, all but a few
of whom were killed.

Colonel Williamson was afterwards elected to office in Washington county,
and, it is said, died in jail as a debtor, without a friend in the world. County
• Lieutenant John Cannon was among them. It is said that the fiend who killed
the fourteen with a mallet was at the time a county commissioner and justice
of the county, and that he was subsequently elected sheriff of the county. John
Cannon founded Cannonsburg, and from him the Academy so noted in the past
took its name. Now this outrage, the blackest in Pennsylvania annals, was
committed by a people who prided themselves on their advancement, wealth and
culture, and who looked with scorn on the Dutch, who, in their dealings with
the Indians, followed as far as possible the policy of William Penn. How the
patriotic and justice-loving Washington must have blushed with shame when
he learned that these murderers had sought to perpetuate his name by giving
it to their newly formed country!

It must ever be remembered that the Indian's side of the long contest
between the early settlers and his race, can never be truly known. Our knowl-
edge of these events almost invariably comes from his enemies. Few nations.

156 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

indeed, would be correctly portrayed if they were compelled to take the place
in history given them by their enemies.

The Westmoreland reader is interested in another expedition to Ohio, made
in 1782, from the fact that its leader, Colonel William Crawford, was the pre-
siding judge of our first courts held at Hannastown, in 1773. In May he
started out with an army of about five hundred horsemen, all mounted on their
own animals. They were largely from Washington county. His objective
point was the Indian strongholds in western Ohio. His force was repulsed,
and he was in a fair way to escape had he not turned back to look after his son,
son-in-law and two nephews, who were of his retreating ^party. He could not
overtake the men because of the weariness of his horse. Crawford and a friend
of his, Dr. Knight, and nine others, were taken prisoners on June loth. His
cruel death has been written of a great deal, and is perhaps, of all outrages
committed by the Indians, the one which will dwell longest in the memory of
civilized people. He was tied to a tree and burning wood placed near him so
as to lengthen his torture. The squaws cut his ears and nose off, and heaped
burning coals on his head and back. For three hours he endured this agony,
when at last the brave but exhausted Colonel sank into a most welcome death.
Simon Girty superintended this barbarous affair. Dr. Knight witnessed it,
and knew that he was to be saved for a similar exhibition in another locality a
night or two following. When being taken there he escaped, and after twenty-
two days of wandering reached Fort Mcintosh, and thence returned to his
home. A further reference to Crawford as our first judge will be found in the
part of this work which treats of the judiciary.

By this time the resources of all kinds of our county were nearly exhausted.
To illustrate: the business done in our courts had almost dwindled away. In
January, 1780, they failed to get men in the county to form a grand jury, and
the court adjourned without doing any business. In October, 1780, there was
only one constable present, and he was from Pittsburgh. In January, 1781, a
traverse jury was secured and their names are quite familiar to the reader.
Though they doubtless have often been published, we are constrained to give
them again. They were : William Love, John Guthrie, Joseph Brownlee, Will-
iam Jack, William Guthrie, Adam Hatfield, Matthew Miller, Samuel Beatty,
Lawrence Irwin, William Shaw, Conrad Houk and William Maxwell. There
were, however, as is always the case in hard times, many (ninety-two) execu-
tions issued. The enormity of this number may be better understood when it
is known that in 1902, one hundred and twenty years after, there were only
three hundred and seventy-four issued, and this when our population was verg-
ing on 200,000.

.A transcript from the records is as follows: "The court having considered
the application of David Rankin, he living on the frontiers, excuse him from
paying license in the year 1781, and at the same time rule that the several
people having sold or continue to sell spirituous liquors living on the frontiers.

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 157

and may be entitled to the favor of the court, are discharged from paying
license until July sessions last, agreeable to the directions of the Honorable,
the Supreme Executive Council."

A law was passed on March 10, 1780, empowering the county commis-
sioners to remit the taxes of those who had been driven from their homes by
the Indians, and also of those who, though not driven away, had greatly suf-
fered from the enemy. That year we were not even called on for troops, for it
was known that our men able to perform military duty, and many who were
not, were already enlisted. Colonel John Boynton, who was a commissioner in
the western frontier, says in a letter to President Reed that in three years he
was scarcely able to purchase such necessaries of life as decency required. Con-
tinental money had also depreciated so greatly that the Pennsylvania council
found it necessary to control the payment of debts by fixing a scale of paying
power for the depreciated currency, and the same law enacted that the
law limiting tlje time of bringing suits should not run when the courts were
closed. In 1780 Broadhead wrote to President Reed, "For heaven's sake hurry
up the promised forces, or Westmoreland county will be a wilderness." This
year a flying company, or rather two of them, were introduced, and these
were to pass rapidly back and forth between Fort Pitt and Fort Ligonier.
Westmoreland county furnished sixty-five men for this purpose, and they were
divided into two companies.

The following is a partial list of the Revolutionary soldiers who have
lived and died in Westmoreland county. It is, of course, not complete, but
it was mostly gathered by the editors of the Greensburg Democrat with
great care, and published by them from time to time. Perhaps the list
may contain errors, and we regret that it can never be completed, yet it is
almost invaluable so far as it goes.

George Ament, of Franklin township, died December 11, 1843, aged 85
years.

Christopher Aukerman, of Mt. Pleasant township, died July 17, 1845,
in the 88th year of his age. He was a drummer and later a soldier in the
war. His body was buried in the Aukerman graveyard, near Lycippus.

John Ansley was a native of New Jersey. Prior to 1798 he removed to
the northern part of Westmoreland county, where he spent the balance of
his life.

Thomas Anderson took up a large tract of land, known as the Richlands,
in Derry township, near New Alexandria. He died there in 1826. aged
103 }-ears, and was buried in the Salem Presbyterian churchyard, Derry
township.

Joseph Brownlee was a lieutenant in Captain Joseph Erwin's company,
Pennsylvania Rifle Regiment. He was murdered by the Indians near
Miller's Station (or fort), two miles northeast of Greensburg, July 13,
1782, the same day that Hannastown was burned. A more extended no-

158 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

tice of Captain Brownlee will be found in the chapter on the burning of
Hannastown.

Sergeant Thomas Beatty, of Derry township, died April 4, 1822, in the
70th year of his age. He enlisted in June, 1776, in Captain James Cham-
fer's company of musketry. Colonel Raelly's regiment, Pennsylvania Line,
year. In June, 1777, he reenlisted for three years in the First Pennsylvania
Regiment, Continental Line. During nine months of that period he was a
prisoner on board a British vessel. He served until the end of his term and
was honorably discharged.

David Brown, of Fairfield township, died May 2, 1819, in the 70th year of
Jiis age.

John Brennen, of Hempfield township, died July 10, 1826, aged "/J years.
He enlisted in 1777 at McCallistertown, Pennsylvania, in Captain McCallis-
ter's company of musketry. Colonel Raelly's regiment, Pennsylvania Line,
for the war, and served .six years. He participated in the battles of Brandy-
wine, Monmouth, Germantown and Paoli, being severely wounded by a
bayonet in the latter engagement.

Hon. John Brandon died November 27, 1823, in Washington township.
Indiana county, in the 70th year of his age. He was a soldier from the
battle of Bunker Hill to the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown. After
the war ^Nlr. Brandon settled in Westmoreland county, and was elected
sheriff in 1792 and again in 1801 ; also a state senator, and held several
minor positions.

Leonard Beck, of Hempfield township, died March 14, 183 1, in the
72nd year of his age. His remains are buried in the graveyard at Seanor's
Church, Hempfield township.

John Barns, of L'nity township, died December 10, 1836, in the 83rd
year of his age.

Adam Brantuwer died in Westmoreland county, July 29, 1834, aged
84 years. He enlisted in Captain Thomas Craig's Company, Second Penn-
sylvania Battalion, Colonel Arthur St. Clair, on January 13, 1776, as a
private for one year. At the end of that term he re-enlisted in the Penn-
sylvania Line for three years or during the war, and was honorably dis-
charged in 1781.

James Black was sergeant in Captain Robert Orr's company in a
battalion of Westmoreland militia, under command of Colonel Archibald
Lochry. In 1781 the battalion was ordered on an expedition down the
Ohio river, and August 24th of that year, while in service. Sergeant Black
was tomahawked and killed by the Indians. A more extended notice of
the Lochry Expedition is given in former pages.

Joseph Bullman was a son of Thomas Bullman and Anna Walling. He
was married November 18, 1762, to Mary Baird, sister of Captain John
and Major William Baird, and daughter of John and Avis Baird; all were

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 159

of Monmouth county, New Jersey. Part of the time he was an ensign with
Captain Carter and Colonel Hathaway. He removed to Westmoreland
county and settled in Loyalhanna township at the woolen factory near
Fennell church, where he spent the remainder of his lif€. His remains were
probably interred at the Congruity Presbyterian cemetery, as his son, Rev.
Samuel P. Bullman, was a member of that church during his youth.

Jacob Byerly died in North Huntington township, July 7, 1858, aged
99 years. He was born in Bedford Fort, and came with his father to the
vicinity of Harrison City in 1762. He did valiant service on frontier and in
a number of expeditions against the Indians, and during the war was at-
tached to the Thirteenth \'irginia regiment, part of which was stationed at
Fort Pitt.

James Carnahan was a lieutenant in Captain Joseph Erwin's company of
the Pennsylvania Rifle regiment. He was subsequently at \-arious times
a captain in the Second, Eighth and Thirteenth Pennsylvania regiments,
Continental Line. He served from March, 1776, until 1781, and was ac-
cidentall}- drowned in the Allegheny river in the winter of 1786. His
father, John Carnahan. was one of the early settlers of Bell township, where
he l:)uilt a log house in 1774. Captain James Carnahan was the father of
the late Dr. Carnahan, president of Princeton College. He is spoken of earlier
in the chapter, and was, indeed, one of our best men in the Revolution.

Garret Covode, of Fairfield township, died I ebruary 21, 1826, in the 91st
year of his age. His remains are interred in the old Fairfield Presbyterian
churchyard. He was a native of Holland, and a resident of the Ligonier
\'alley for thirty six years.

Captain Daniel Carpenter, of Franklin township, died December 14,
1827, in the 79th year of his age. He was a captain in the war under Gen-
eral Washington. He was a native of Lancaster county, Pennsylvania.

John Curry, Sr., died in Preble county, Ohio. August 27, 1835, aged 85
years. He was one of the first settlers on the Allegheny river in West-
moreland county, located three miles southeast of Freeport. He served
several years in the war, and at its close returned to his home on the
river. Three times the Indians burned his house, and three times he was
compelled to flee with his family ( ast of the mountains to escape the sav-
ages. In 1814 he removed to Preble county, Ohio.

The Craig family, father and three sons, rendered splendid service in the
war. Samuel Craig, Sr., was a lieutenant in Colonel John Proctor's battalion
of militia. He was captured by the Indians. John Craig died in 1847, 'I's re-
mains resting at Freeport, Pennsylvania. Alexander Craig died October 29,
1832, in his 77th year, his body being buried at Congruity, and Samuel Craig,
Jr., died in 1808.

Samuel Carson was buried in the cemetery at Long Run church. North
Huntington township. He enlisted at Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, Jan-
uary 25. 1776 as a private in Captain James Taylor's companj-. Fourth

i6o HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

Pennsylvania Battalion, under Colonel Anthony Wayne, and served until
the close of the war.

Zebulon Doty was born in New Jersey, in 1760. After the war he emi-
grated to Derry township, and settled near the Salem Presbyterian Church.
He died at Blairsville, Pennsylvania.

William Donald, of Franklin township, died March 31, 1842, in the
90th year of his age.

Philip Drum, of Franklin township, died June 10, 1845, in the 95th
year of his age. He was a native of Northampton county. He participated
in the battles of Long Island, White Plains, Trenton, Princeton, Brandy-
wme and Germantown. His remains were interred in the graveyard on his
own farm with military honors. The Franklin Blues, under command of
Captain Hugh Irwin, performed the last sad honors.

Francis Davidson, of Salem township, died October 8, 1845, 3t the
age of 106 years.

George Dugan, of Westmorelard county, died August 16. 1834. He
left no family.

Nathaniel Dc y died at his residence in Derry township, Alarch 24,
1848, in his 86th year. He was a native of New Jersey, and served in Cap-
tain Carter's company, Colonel Hathaway's regiment, New Jersey Line.
His remains are interred in the Salem Presbyterian Churchyard, Derry
township.

David Dickey's remains are interred at Congruity.

John Eggert (Eckert), of Unity township, died February 15, 1845, in
his 86th year. He was one oi- the Hessians captured by Wshington. Sub-
sequently he joined the American army and served during the remainder
of the war with bravery and fidelity. He was ever a respected and ex-
cellent citizen of his adopted country.

Robert Elder served five years in the war. In 1784 he emigrated from
a section of Lancaster county that is now included in Dauphin, to West-
moreland, and settled near New Alexandria, where he died many years
afterwards, at the age of 86 years. His remains are interred in the Salem
Presbyterian churchyard, Derry township.

John Finley Avas a lieutenant in Captain Aloses Carson's company in
1776 to range the frontiers. He died on his farm in South Huntington
tov/nship, Septem.ber g, 1813.

Hon. William Findley, of LTnity township, died April 4, 1821, aged 80 years.
His body was buried in the graveyard at Unity Church. He rose to the
rank of captain in the war, and was a member of the council of censors, of
the supreme executive council, of the convention that ratified the federal
constitution, a member of the convention that framed the state constitution
of 1790, a member of the general assembly, and for twenty-two years a
representative in Congress. He was a prominent figure on the side of law
and order during the latter part of the Whiskey Insurrection, and the

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. i6i

author of a history of that notable affair, which was pubhshed in 1796. A
more extended account of his life will be found elsewhere in these pages.

William Farrell died in Mt. Pleasant borough, June 20, 1828, aged 82
years. He enlisted in 1777 in the Seventh Regiment Pennsylvania Line,
under Col. ^\'illiam Butler (the Flying Camp), and participated in the
battles of Brunswick, Trenton, Germantown, Monmouth, Brandywine and
Paoli, and was wounded in the head at the latter place. He also served
under Col. William Butler (the Flying Camp). At his funeral his
remains were interred with the honors of war by the Mt. Pleasant Volun-
teers, under command of Lieutenant A. Miller.

Lieutenant Andrew Finley, of South Huntingdon township, died July
3, 1829, aged about 80 years. Sixty years previously, when surrounded by
difficulties and encountering danger at every step, he visited the state of
Kentucky, at that time a trackless wilderness. He enlisted in the Con-
tinental army as first lieutenant in the Eighth Pennsylvania Regiment,
commanded by Colonel Aeneas Mackay, and after his death Colonel Daniel
Broadhead. On various occasions Mr. Finley distinguished himself by his
daring intrepidity in opposing the Lidians and relieving the inhabitants of
our frontier settlements.

Mathias Fisher, of Ligonier township, died February 17, 1834.

Lieutenant Ennos Grannis, of Hempfield township, died ]\larch 18.
1824, aged 69 years. He enlisted in Connecticut, August 25, 1777, in a
company of artificers commanded by Captain Pendleton. In November,
1779, hs '^■'is appointed a lieutenant in that company, which was attached
to the regiment commanded by Colonel Baldwin, Connecticut Line. The
regiment joined the southern army and marched to South Carolina. Lieu-
tenant Grannis was honorably discharged at Philadelphia, November 3,
1783. Not long thereafter he became a citizen of Westmoreland county.

William Guthrie, of Washington township, died August 8, 1829, in the
9Sth year of his age. He was one of the pioneers. He enlisted in May, 1777,
and continued in the service for four years, in the Seventh Pennsylvania Regi-
ment, Continental Line. He participated in many engagements with the In-
dians on the Westmoreland frontier and was noted for his great bravery.

James Gaghby, of Fairfield township, died May 23, 1834, in the 82nd
year of his age. He immigrated to this country during the war, and
joined the army. After the war he settled in Fairfield township, where
he resided until his death.

Mathias H. Holston, of Derry township, died August 8, 1822.

William Hitchman, of Mt. Pleasant township, died February 10, 1834,
aged about 75 years. He was a native of Cecil county, Maryland. At the
age of sixteen he enlisted under Captain Maxwell in a corps attached to
the Maryland Line. He emigrated to this country in an early day, and
suffered the hardships and privations to which the pioneers of the western
country were exposed.

l62 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

Robert Hamill was born in county Antrim, Ireland, and came with his
parents, John Hamill and Elizabeth Gibson, to America, in 1761, and about
1785 moved to Ligonier Valley, two miles south of Palmer's Fort. The
father, John Hamill, being drafted, Robert went in his place and served
three years. He died in 1841, in the 83rd year of his age.

Hugh Hamill served in Captain Finley's company from 1776 to 1779.
He resided in Ligonier Valley in 1809, and was one of the original first
session of the Associated Reformed Presbyterian Church of that section.

Jacob Himinger died in Mt. Pleasant borough, April 5, 1842, in the
86th year of his age, and his remains were interred with military honors
by Captain Clark's volunteer corps of Jackson Greys.

Jacob Holtzer immigrated to America from Germany prior to the strug-
gle for independence. He settled near Lewistown, Pennsylvania, enlisted
in the army, and was promoted to sergeant. After the war he came to
Westmoreland and settled in the southwestern section of Unity township.
His remains were buried in Hempfield township, in what is known as
Central Cemetery. Alany of his descendants are well known residents of
the country.

Colonel John Irwin, of Brush Hill ( Xorth Huntingdon township), died
February 22, 1822, in the 83rd year of his age. He arrived in the country
in 1762, and soon after was appointed a commissary in the British army.
■During the war he was quartermaster for the western department. He
represented Westrnoreland for several sessions in the general assembly. In
1794 he was appointed associate judge of the courts of this county by
Governor Mifflin. Colonel Irwin was active in promoting the building of
the Greensburg and Stoyestown turnpike.

Capt. Matthew Jack, of Salem township, died November 26, 1836, in
the 82nd year of his age. His remains are interred at Congruity. He
entered the service a« first lieutenant in the Eighth Pennsylvania Regiment,
Continental Line. He lost the use of his left hand by the bursting of his
gun at Bound Brook, New Jersey. He was promoted to captain April 13,
1777, and became supernumerary January 31, 1779. He also rendered ser-
vice at times in defense of the frontiers. .At the burning of Hannastown by
the Indians in July, 1782, he was among the first to go out from the stock-
ade to discover the intention of the savages and to alarm the settlers. His
famous ride and rescue of Mrs. Love and her babe on that memorable day
are now well known facts of history. Captain Jack likewise participated
in the war of 1812, and among his effects, still to be seen, is a valuable relic
made from the wood of a British vessel, and marked with a silver plate
bearing this inscription, "Capt. Matthew Jack ; Perry's Victory, Lake
Erie, 1813."

John Johnston, of .\llegheny township, died March 12, 1843. in the
103d year of his age. He served faithfully from the beginning to the
close of the war, and was in General .Anthony Wayne's command, and par-

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 163

ticipated in the battles of White Plains, Trenton, Princeton, Brandywine,
Germantown, Monmouth, Stony Point, Guilford Court House and York-
town. At the storming of Stony Point he was. one of the gallant "forlorn
hope." His body was escorted to the grave by the militia under command
of Major George W. Martin and Captain Kipp, and buried with the honors
■of war, in presence of the largest concourse of people ever assembled in
the neighborhood at an interment.

General William Jack died at his residence near Greensburg, February
18, 1821, in the 68th year of his ag-e. He was born near Strabane, county
Tyrone, Ireland, in 1751, and came to Westmoreland county with his elder
brother. Matthew Jack, in 1772. General Jack was distinguished for zeal
and activity in protecting the frontiers, and was one of the founders of
Greensburg. With Christopher Truby and Ludwick Otterman he donated
the ground upon which are erected our present public buildings. He
was second lieutenant of the Pennsylvania independent company of which
Samuel Moorehead was captain, his commission bearing date January i,
1777. He gained the title of General by virtue of appointment as brigadier-
general of Westmoreland militia, his commission signed by Governor
Thomas Mifflin, April 19, 1793. He was a justice of the court of common
pleas during the Revolution. He donated to the burgesses and inhabitants
of Greensburg lots of ground for a school building, house of worship and
burial ground, now embraced within the old St. Clair Cemetery. His re-
mains are interred there near the remains of the patriot and soldier. Gen-
eral Arthur St. Clair.

James Jones served in the war al. out six years and six months. He
was born November 11, 1761. and died August 18, 181 1. His remains rest
in the ])urial ground at Congruity Church, Salem township. James Jones
was the grandfather of ex-County Superintendent H. M. Jones, of that
township.

Captain David Kilgore, of Mt. Pleasant township, died July 11, 1814,
at an advanced age. He was an early settler in the county, and had been
a captain in the war.

Joseph Kaylor, Sr., of Hempfield township, died April i, 1833, in the
77th year of his age. At the commencement of the war he was snatched
from his native country and widowed mother on the coast of Germany by
a British press gang for enforced service against the Americans. On the
first opportunity after his arrival in this countrv he escaped from the
British and their unrighteous cause, and joined his fortunes to the standard
of liberty under Washington. He -distinguished himself as a brave soldier
in three severe engagements. At the close of the war he settled in this
county, where he spent the remainder of his life.

Captain David Kilgore, of Mt. Pleasant township, died July 11, 1814,
in the 70th year of his age. His remains were interred in the graveyard at

l64 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

the Middle Church in the township named. He was captain of a company
in a regiment enHsted in June, 1776, for the defense of the frontier, and
which subsequently became . the Eighth Pennsylvania Regiment, Continen-
tal Line.

Colonel Archibald Lochry was killed and scalped by the Indians, on
August 24, 1781, below the mouth of the Big Maumee. He was lieutenant-
colonel under Colonel John Proctor, First Battalion Westmoreland Associ-
ators, 1776. He was county lieutenant for Westmoreland county, and com-
manded a regiment of Westmoreland militia in General Clark's proposed
expedition against the Indians.

David Logan, of Franklin township, died November 28, 1815, aged sixty
years.

Jacob Peter Long, of Mt. Pleasant township, died January 19, 1842, in
the 83d year of his age. He was a teamster in the war. His body
rests in the Middle Church graveyard, in the township named.

Captain Jeremiah Lochrey died January 21, 1824, at the residence of
Samuel Moorhead, in Salem township, in the 93d year of his age, and was
interred at Congruity. He was a captain in the Sixth Pennsylvania Regi-
ment, Continental Line.

John Leach, a private in Captain James Leech's company of militia of
W^estmoreland county during the war, was killed by the Indians while in
service.

James Montgomery, of Unity township, died March 14, 1824, aged
72 years. He participated in the war, and subsequently in several tours
against the Indians. He settled in Westmoreland in 1784, was elected a
number of times to the state legislature, and appointed register and recorder
by Governor Snyder in 1813.

Alexander McClain died at Youngstown, February 2, 1826, aged 84
years. He served his country during the war and received four wounds, one
each at the battles of Trenton, Brandy wine, Germantown and Paoli.

Mathias Marker, of Donegal township, died April 17, 1840, aged 91
years. He came from Maryland, enlisting perhaps from Virginia.

Edward McDonnell died February 5, 1836. He left no family.

Peter Martin, of North Huntingdon township, died May 20, 1822, aged'
about 72 years. He enlisted for three years in the company commanded
by Captain William Bratton, in the Seventh Pennsylvania Regiment, com-
manded by Colonel William Irvine, and for a time by Colonel Josiah Har-
mer. He served his full term, and was honorably discharged at Trenton,
New Jersey, his discharge being signed by General Wayne.

Captain William Moore, of Salem township, died January 12, 1819, in
the 79th year of his age. He was one of the earliest settlers of that localitv,
and was an active and useful citizen during the trying frontier davs of this,
section, and was an officer in the Revolutionarv war.

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 165

Isaac AIcKissack was born in Count_y Antrim, Ireland, in 1752, and im-
migrated to America in 1772. At the outbreak of the war he enhsted in
the armv for seven years, was with Washington at Valley Forge, and en-
dured all the trials of a soldier until peace was declared. He came west and
was one of the soldiers on the frontiers, protecting the settlers from the at-
tacks of the Indians. When Hannastown was burned he was in the field
harvesting, near Latrobe. Hearing the report of the firearms he dropped his
sickle, and with gim in hand started for the scene of action. He was one
of the men who guarded the fort that night at Hannastown. After the raids
of the Indians ceased, he settled on a farm in Unity township. He married
Mary Cochran, of Salem township, and two daughters were born to them ;
one died when young, and the other, Eleanor, married William Barnes, of
Unity township. They moved to a farm in North Huntingdon township,
near Irwin. Isaac lilcKissack and his wife, in their declining years, made
their home with William Barnes. He died of apoplexy, September 19, 1830,
aged 78 years. The remains were interred in the Long Run Presbyterian
Church graveyard, Circleville, Westmoreland county. Two grandchildren
survive him, jMiss Martha Barnes and ]\Irs. John Blair.

James McBride died December 21, 1837, aged 79 years, 9 months and 6
days. His remains rest in the family burial ground on the McBride farm,
Loyalhanna township. He enlisted three times, first in August, 1777. and
was granted a pension by the United States, August 10, 1833.

Peter McHarg died 1803, his remains being interred in the old Fairfield
Presbyterian churchyard. He was in Captain Thomas Stokely's company
with Lochrey's expedition, was taken a prisoner by the Indians and returned
from captivity in 1782. A more extensive notice of his captivity is found
in a former chapter.

Alexander McCurdy died at the residence of his son, Samuel, near Tun-
nel Hill, Derry township, January 6, 1839, aged 86 years. He enlisted in
1776 in Captain William Peebles' company, Second Battalion, Regiment of
Riflemen, Pennsylvania Line, commanded by Colonel Miles. He was a na-
tive of Ireland, but removed when young to the Ligonier \'alley. His body
was buried in the Baptist churchyard, Loyalhanna township.

James JNIontgomery was appointed a captain in the Eighth Pennsylvania
Regiment, Continental Line, and died in service, August 26, 1777.

Samuel ^lehafifey resided on the line between Salem and Loyalhanna
townships. He died in 1842, and was buried in the Congruity churchyard,
but his grave is unmarked.

John AlcConnell, of Franklin township, died May 2^. 1832. in the 78th
year of his age. He enlisted in Captain Eli Myers' company, Eighth Penn-
sylvania Regiment, in June, 1776. The regiment first did duty at Kittanning,
and in the autumn was marched to New Jersey. He was in the battle of
Bound Brook, and a number of skirmishes in that locality. About a vear

i66 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

and a half later the regiment returned to the western country to operate
against the Indians. It marched by way of Pittsburgh to Beaver Creek, and
assisted in building Fort Mcintosh. It then joined in the campaign under
General Mcintosh against the Indians on the Tuscaroras, and later in the
campaign against the Muncy Indians under command of Colonel Broadhead.
After three years service Mr. McConnell was discharged at Pittsburgh by
Colonel Bayard, who then commanded the regiment.

William :\Iarshall, of Unity township, died November 17, 1828, in the
76th year of his age. He resided in this section of the country previous to
the war, and encountered all the dangers to which the inhabitants of the
frontier settlements were then exposed. He volunteered his services at an
early period, and while on an expedition against the Indians was taken by
them and carried to Detroit, where he was detained for a considerable time,
during which time his sufferings were great. He at length succeeded in
reaching home.

Samuel Miller, August 9, 1776, was appointed captain of a company in
a battalion enlisted for the protection of the frontier on the west side of the
Allegheny Mountains. It was afterwards called to New Jersey, and was
known as the Eighth Pennsylvania Regiment. While at home on a furlough
he, with others, was conveying grain to Fort Hand, Washington township,
July 7, 1778, when they were surprised by a party of Indians and he and
seven of the party were killed. He was the original owner of Miller's Sta-
tion, two miles northeast of Greensburg, which was attacked and destroyed
by the Indians and renegades who burned Hannastown, July 13, 1782.

Thomas Newill, of Mt. Pleasant township, died November 8, 1828, in
the 86th year of his age. He participated in the battles of Brandywine and
Germantown, and was distinguished for his gallantry and devotion.

Joseph Pound enlisted January 13, 1776, at Philadelphia, as Joseph Points,
and served as sergeant in Captain Stephen Bayard's company of Arthur St.
Clair's Second Pennsylvania Battalion. At the time of the outbreak of the
war his parents resided at Bound Brook, New Jersey. Joseph Pound's father
and three brothers also served in the war. He emigrated from Basking
Ridge, New Jersey, to Westmoreland county in 1795, and finally located at
Tunnel Hill, near Livermore. He died April 4, 1813, aged 63, his remains
being interred in the Salem Presbyterian churchyard, Derry township.

Thomas Patterson, Sr., of Derry township, died August 11, 1834, in the
78th year of his age. He was a resident of Derry township for more than
sixty years prior to his death.

Zebulon Park, of Donegal township, died July 4, 1846, in his 90th year.
He enlisted in Captain Thomas Patterson's company. Third New Jersey Regi-
ment, Continental Line, January, 1776, and was in the service for four years
and six months. He participated in the battles of Ticonderoga, Monmouth,
Long Island, Elizabethtown, Brandvwine, Trenton and others. He was

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 167

wounded at Brandywine. He resided on the farm where he died, in Donegal
township, for over fifty years, and was buried in the Pleasant Grove church-
yard. Cook township.

John Payne's remains are buried in the Pleasant Grove Church grave-
yard, Cook township. His grave is not marked.

Major Andrew Ralston, of New Alexandria, died August 31, 1819, aged
66 years, and was buried at New Alexandria, He enlisted at the first call
for troops, entered the service as a private in the Pennsylvania militia, and
served throughout the entire war in various military stations.

General William Reed, of New Alexandria, died June 17, 1813, and was
buried at that place. He took an active part in the war, and subsequently
filled various public offices. At the time of his deatli he was adjutant-general
of the militia of Pennsylvania.

Brintnell Robbins served as an ofiicer under Washington during the
Revolution. He subsequently became a tradesman, farmer and shipbuilder,
distinguished in the last named occupation for building the boats that con-
veyed Scott's troops across the Niagara and into Canada. In 1830 he moved
to a farm near Greensburg. He died in a stone building where the Stark
House now is, comer Pennsylvania avenue and West Otterman street, July 25,
1836, and is buried in Harrold's graveyard, three miles south of Greensburg.

John Rose served two terms in the war, and his remains rest in the Olive
graveyard, Franklin township, three miles north of Murrysville.

Charles Richart, Sr., of jMt. Pleasant township, died August 17, 1852, aged
96 years, 10 months and 20 days. His body was interred in St. Paul's (or
the Ridge Church) burial ground, near Trauger. He was a iifer in the war.

George Frederick Sclieibeler, of Hempfield township, died February 28,
at Frederickstown, Maryland, in the company commanded by Captain John
Steth, in the dragoons commanded by Colonel William Washington. After near-
ly two years service he was taken a prisoner at Santee River, and kept one year
on board a prison ship at Charleston, from whence he was taken to the West
Indies. He made his escape, but was unable to return to America until after
the war. He was a resident of Westmoreland for fifty years. At the time
of his death he was survived by two children, sixteen grandchildren and forty-
six great-grandchildren.

Major Isaac Saddler, of Washington township, died June 20, 1843, '" the
84th year of his age. He was born May 14, 1760, and enlisted in the army
when quite young. He was reared when the country was yet wild and des-
olate, and the savages frequented the borders.

Captain John Shields died near New Alexandria, November 3, 1821, in
the 82nd year of his age. He was an early settler of the western country,
having emigrated here in 1771, and resided there until his death. In 1776 he
commanded a company that marched to Pittsburgh, to guard a number of

i68 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

commissioners deputed to treat with certain Indian nations. For several
years he was actively employed in guarding the frontiers against the sav-
ages. When the war broke out he marched eastward as captain of a com-
pany. He had been a member of the general assembly, was a magistrate
for many years, and was one of the trustees for the erection of the first
court house at Greensburg.

Daniel St. Clair died February i8, 1833, ™ Mifllin county, Pennsylva-
nia, at an advanced age. He was an ensign in Captain John Reese's com-
pany, Second Pennsylvania Battalion, and subsequently a first lieutenant
in the Third Pennsylvania Regiment, Continental Line. He was a son of
Major General Arthur St. Clair.

Ezekiel Sample, of South Huntingdon township, died ]\Iarch 31, 1829,
in the 80th year of his age. He lived in the township forty-two years, and
was a justice of the peace for twenty-seven years.

Lieutenant David Sloan, of Captain Joseph Erwin's company, Pennsyl-
vania Rifle Regiment, was killed in the battle of Long Island, August 27,
1776.

Andrew Simpson, of Salem township, was an ensign in a company of
foot commanded by Captain Samuel Ivloorhead, of the First Battalion of
Westmoreland militia. The command had been at the Kittanning Fort. Re-
turning home on March 16, 1777, and still in the service. Ensign Simpson
was shot, killed and scalped by the Indians.

John Stewart, of Hannastown, a private in Captain Robert Orr's com-
pany. Colonel Archibald Lochry's battalion of W'estmoreland militia, was
killed August 24, 1781, below the mouth of the Big Maumee, on the Ohio,
in a battle with the Indians.

Nehemiah Stokely was a captain in the Eighth Pennsylvania Regiment,
Continental Line. He died in Westmoreland county in 181 1.

John Topper, of Unity township, died February 16, 1839, in the 90th
3'ear of his age.

Balsar Trout, of Allegheny township, died July 5, 1837, in the 80th year
of his age. He served throughout the entire war, and in 1777 marched from
Winchester, Virginia, to Fort Pitt, and subsequently participated in the bat-
tle of Yorktown, and witnessed the surrender of his sword by Lord Corn-
wallis to General Washington.

Hugh Torrence, of Franklin township, died June 23, 1830, in the 85th
year of his age. He was a member of the regiment cdmmanded by Colonel
Cadwallader. and was in the battles of Monmouth, Brandywine, German-
town and others. He resided in this county thirty-three years prior to his
death.

Simon Taylor died at his home near New Alexandria, April 21, 1S31.

John \\'oods, of Salem township, died April 28, 1827.

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 169

]\Iott Wilkinson, of Bairdstown, Derry township, died December 4, 1856,
aged ninety-six years. He was born in Hartford, Connecticut, and served
in the war with his uncle. Captain Daniel Lawrence. After the war he re-
moved to Scranton, Pennsylvania, and in 1820 to Blacklick township, In-
<Lliana county, and thence to Bairdstown. His remains are interred at Blairs-
ville, Indiana county, Pennsylvania.

Adam Weaver died at Pleasant Unity, about the year 183 1, aged about
seventy-eight years. His remains were interred in a country burial ground
on the old William T. Nicolls farm, Mt. Pleasant township, one-half mile
from Lycippus. He enlisted in Captain David Kilgore's company, Eighth
Pennsylvania Regiment, in 1776, and was honorably discharged by Colonel
Broadhead in 1779 at Pittsburgh. He participated in the battles of Brandy-
wine. Germantown, Paoli and Bound Brook. His body was laid to rest with
the honors of war.

Nathan Williams, -of Greensburg, died November 2, 1830, aged ^2 years.
He was a private in the Second Pennsylvania Regiment, Continental Line.
His remains were interred in the old St. Clair cemetery.

George Wagner died in 1820. His remains are buried in the graveyard
at Seanor's Church, Hempfield township.

Captain John Young died at his home in Salem township, August 13,
1841. in the 87th year of his age. He enlisted in the army under Captain
Abraham Smith, of Cumberland county, in 1775, and marched to lower
Canada, where he served under Generals Schuyler and Sullivan. He was
in several battles, one of them being the battle of Three Rivers. He moved
to Salem township in 1775, where he resided for fifty-six years. For seven
years after he settled there the Indians were troublesome in that locality, and
Captain Young on a number of occasions raised men and rendered impor-
tant service in guarding the frontier.

Captain Jeremiah Lochry died January 21, 1824, aged ninety-four years,
and is buried at Congruity. He was in Braddock's army, and at the defeat.
He was adjutant of the Eighth Regiment, and went with it from Westmoreland
to New Jersey, under his brother. Colonel Archibald Lochry. As a captain
lie served during the remainder of the Revolution.

The state of Pennsylvania, by special acts of assembly, often granted
pensions to her worthy and needy who had rendered service in the Revolu-
tion, and also to their widows. The following is a list of the names of those
to whom pensions were granted by special acts of the legislature ; they
are not published among the regular lists of Pennsylvania who were pen-
sioned by the government. All these were pensioned as W^estmoreland citi-
zens. The date opposite the name denotes the year the pension was granted.
This list was made from the "Pamphlet Laws of Pennsylvania," and we
believe w^e have omitted none :

I70 HISTOR}

OF WESTMORELAND

COUNTY.

John Brannon,

1820

Mary Geary.

1847.

Sam Marshall. Sr.

1845-

William Brown,

1825

Mary Gray.

1847

Henry Mosher.

1849.

William Briney,

1836

Robert Hunter,

1808.

Hannah Mosher,

1855-

Eleanor Blair.

1836

Andrew Hazlet,

1826.

Catharine Mclntyre, 1854-

Killian Briney,

1838

Robert Hunter,

1827.

Rebecca Moreland

1857.

Margaret Barnet,

1844

J. W. HoUingsworth,

1835.

Jane Nixon,

1846.

Nancy Blair,

1844

Eleanor Hagerman,

1838.

James Payton,

1830.

William Beatty,

1845

Michael Huffman,

1835.

Robert Pain,

1838.

Robert Crawford,

1822

Catherine Huffnagle,

1838.

James Patrick,

18+4-

Thomas Campbell,

1824

David Hossack,

1836.

William Patrick,

1845.

Eanor Conner,

1837

John Harbison,

1838.

Sarah Patterson,

1857.

George Chambers,

1837

Robert Hanna,

1841.

Robert Piper,

1845.

Robert Cooper,

1837

Christena Huffman,

1840.

Adam F. Roesser,

1824.

James Cowen,

1837

Samuel Henderson,

1844-

George Reem,

1836.

John Campbell,

1838

Jacob Houseman,

1854.

Samuel Robb,

1838.

Henry Croushour,

1838

Hugh Irvin,

1849.

Ann Reger,

1849.

Margaret Callahan

1841

John Johnston,

1825.

Simon Ruffner,

1838.

William Campbell,

1838

Elizabeth Jamison,

1839.

Barbara Ruffner,

1851.

Mary Cowen,

1849

Margaret Johnston,

1838.

Susanna Stokely,

1834-

William Donnel,

1825

Joseph Johnston,

1845.

Fred Septer,

1835-

Francis Davdison,

1829

Ephraim Jellison,

1846.

Andrew Shaw,

1835-

Sarah Davis,

1836

James Kean,

1826.

David Shaw,

183s-

James Denning,

1838

Gerge Koehler,

1826.

Mary Snyder,

1839-

James Duncan,

1844

Hannah M. Kimmel.

1827.

Alexander Scott,

1842.

Elizabeth Davidson

, 1846

(widow of Jacob Kimmel.)

Ann Smith.

1839-

Jane Duncan,

1848

David Louther,

1838.

Catharine Shaw,

1844.

(widow of James

Duncan]

Alexander Lyons,

1845.

George Singerly,

1843-

Rosanna Eager,

1842

Margaret Libengood,

i860.

Barbara Snyder,

1844.

Robert Ewing,

1835

Sarah Louther,

1854.

Reynold Stevens,

1845-

Jacob Freeman,

1838

Capt. Jerry Lockry,

1807.

John A. Smith,

1844.

James Freeman,

1845

Jane McGuire,

1824.

Catharine Septer,

1848-

Mary Frantz,

1856

Jane Martin,

1827.

Elizabeth Shields,

i8S7-

James Flood,

1857

James McSorley,

1834.

(widow of John

Shields)

James Gageby,

1824

Margaret McClain,

1827.

John Taylor,

1838.

Robert Gibb,

182s

Nancy McConnel,

1834.

.Daniel Yarr,

1843-

Jacob Grist,

1838

James McKensey,

1838.

Adam Weaver,

1833.

Martin Gray,

1844

John Mertz,

1834.

Robert Williams,

1838.

Eleanor Gilgore,

1846

George McWilliams,

1838.

John G. Wilkins,

1838.

Peter Gordon,

1844.

William Moreland,

1839-

James Wilson,

1849.

Robert Gilchrist,

1846.

Robert McGuire,

1843.

Ananias Wisener,

1838.

Rachel George,

I8S9.

Mary A. Mowry,

1845-

(widow of David

George)

James McElroy,

1845.

Eve Oury was

granted

a special pension of forty dollar^

per year by Act of

April I,

i8^6. The act itself recites

that it was granted for

heroic

bravery and risking

her life

in defense of the garrison o

■ Hannastown Fort, in i

778, when it was attacked by

a large

number of Indians,

and Iha

by her fortitude, she performed efficient service in

driving

away the Indians, and thus s

aved the inmates from a

horrid butchery by the mere

less and

savage foe. (See P

. L. iS.\t

, page 210). She was a

daughter of Francis Oury, and died

>.t Shieldsburg, in 184S. and

s buried at Congruity.

CHAPTER XII

The Hannastown War.— Burning of the County Seat.— Destruction of Miller's
Blockhouse.

The summer of 1782 was the gloomiest in our pioneer histon-. ]\Iany of
our people did not pretend to do anything else than stand guard around the
fields where others worked. The increased Indian hostility was due in
part to the murder of the Moravian Indians the year before. The enemy
was also emboldened by the unfortunate termination of Lochry's expe-
dition.

Around Hannastown those who were looked up to as special defenders-
were Colonel Campbell, Captain Matthew Jack, Captain Love. Lieutenant
Guthrie, the Browiilecs, the Brisons, the Shaws and the Wilsons. As the
Indian troubles accumulated the pioneers became more and more united,,
until in the summer of 1782 they nearU' all lived in the forts and block-
houses, or in close proximity with them. When a field of grain was to be
harvested it was done not by the owner alone, but by the community, so
that the reaping party might be more formidable in the event of an attack
by the Indians. In addition to the forts at Hannastown, Fort Walthour and
[Miller's blockhouse, there was in the Hannastown community a strong-
hold known as George's cabin, less than a mile southeast of Miller's, and
Rugh's blockhouse, about one mile south of the present borough limits
of Greensburg. Within these places of comparative safety were collected
at all times in the summer of 1782 a large part of the population of the
Hannastown settlement. The land surrounding these localities and be-
tween them had nearly all bpen taken up by pioneer settlers. Hannas-
town, it will be remembered, had been a county seat for inore than nine
years, and the country for several miles in each direction was pretty well
cleared and, for that day, thickly populated. The farmers had fenced
their land, some of it at least, with stake and rider fences to protect their
crops against live stock. Each farmer had cattle, horses, sheep, etc., and
the community bid fair to surpass all others in the county, if, indeed, it
had not alreadv done so. Its onlv rival was the Pittsburgh settlement.

172 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

There had been mihtia soldiers guarding the garrison at Hannastown,
but they had deserted their post because they were not paid. Xor can
they be blamed for this, for they are said to have been actually in rags when
they left. The settlers were, therefore, left to take care of themselves.
Farther north from Hannastown, and in many other parts of the county,
farms were deserted, the owners and their families having gone to their
original homes east of the mountains. The Hannastown community, be-
cause of its prominence, had special fear that if a raid was made their settle-
ment would be the objective point. They were, therefore, unusually vigi-
lant, but they had had no particular warning to put them on their guard.

On Saturday, July 13, 1782, the men of Hannastown and the near com-
munity were engaged in cutting a field of grain for Captain Michael Huff-
nagle. The reader will recall him as the prothonotary who succeeded Ar-
thur St. Clair, and also as a captain of the Eighth Pennsylvania Regiment.
He had sat on the bench as a justice, had acquired considerable property,
and was a man of great strength of character. In the Revolutionary ser-
vice he had been wounded in the leg, and this incapacitated him for fur-
ther duty, in the main army, but it did not prevent him from taking a lead-
ing part in the defense of the frontier. His fields of grain lay one and a
half miles north of Hannastown, the land now being owned by Jacob
Longsdorf. The grain of that day, whether wheat, rye or oats, was cut
entirely by sickles, and the reapers, with their heads and bodies bent
down, could be easily approached by the Indians. They had cut one
field and eaten their cold dinners in the shade, and were about ready to
begin on another field. One of the reapers crossed over to the side of the
field bordering on the woods, and as he neared the woodland he detected.
Indians hiding behind the trees and stealthily awaiting till the reapers
-should resume their work. The reaper ran back and gave the alarm and
immediately the entire party ran for their lives. Some of them secured
their firearms, others ran to notify their neighbors, but the general trend
Avas toward the fort at Hannastown. In a few minutes they reached the
town, and then, in an instant almost, all was commotion. Our court min-
utes show that court began on Tuesday, July 9, with Judge Edward Cook
and his associates on the bench. It was held in the original log house built
by Robert Hanna, which had been used as a court house since the for-
mation of the county in 1773. The first thing the excited inhabitants did
was to take the court records from the court room to the stockade. These
are the records, heirlooms of the pioneer days, from which we have so fre-
quently quoted, and which are yet in a good state of preservation. The
door of the log jail was then broken open, and all the prisoners were set
free. Able young people hurriedly assisted the children and decrepit old
men and women from their houses to the stockade. The haste in which
this was done mav be imagined from the fact that thev took with them

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 173.

none of their clothes, furniture nor belongings, not even provisions for a
single meal. In a few minutes all were in the fort who wanted to go in, and,
preparations were made to close the gate of the palisades.

There were several young men who did not want to enter the fort, but
who preferred to stay out and fight the Indians in their own way. These-
were rangers whose exploits in Indian warfare have been referred to be-
fore. They regarded it as their duty to seek the protection of the fortress,
only after they had warned the entire settlement of the presence of the
Indians. Among these were James Brison, David Shaw and Matthew
Jack. There were several others, but their names have not come down to
us. James Brison, is, by the way, the same young man who, as clerk to
Arthur St. Clair, kept the early court records in such splendid shape. He
and David Shaw and others volunteered to go north toward the approach-
ing Indians and learn something of their strength and their intention. There
was no way for them to go but on foot, yet be it said to their credit that
they went willingly. But before Shaw, Brison and their associates started,
.Matthew Jack had mounted his gallant horse and set out, not directly to
the north, but in a circular direction, intending to pass around and recon-
noiter the enemy, and learn all that could be learned there, and also notify
all the surrounding settlements of their presence.

The Indians did not at once pursue the reapers. Their object had evi-
dently been to make way with them and then attack the town without
warning. Thinking, perhaps, that the reapers did not know the strength
of the invaders, and that they would return to pursue them, they waited
nearly an hour at the grain field, instead of chasing the reapers to the
fort. Captain Jack was not a citizen of Hannastown, but chanced to be
in the village that day, perhaps in attendance at court. By rapid riding
he very soon reached the vicinity of the grain field and discovered the
strength of the band. They were apparently deliberating upon the place
of attack. Jack was a ranger whose perceptive qualities had been sharpened
by much usage. He saw the Indians before they saw him, and turning to
ride back, was followed by them. On the way he met Shaw, Brison and the
others, whom he warned to run for their lives, and said he would circle-
around somewhat before entering the fort, and still, owing to the fleetness
of his horse, be able to enter with the scouting party. He was naturally
daring and courageous, and had probably no more fear of the Indians than
if they had been so many wild animals. He therefore rode to the south-
east and came to the cabin of the Love family, (lately the John L. Bierer
farm) whom he warned to flee. He took Mrs. Love and her children on the
horse behind him, and galloped toward the fort. The scouting party —
Shaw, Brison and their associates — took Jack's advice and ran as rapidly
as they could toward Hannastown. The Indians, following on Jack's
trail, soon caught sight of the scouting party, and gave them a hard run
for their lives. They undoubtedly mistook them for the reapers, who,.

174

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

they supposed, had not yet warned the citizens of the town. If, therefore,
they could catch them, they could still surprise the citizens of Hannastown.
On any other theory, the Indians would have shot them while on the run,
but a shot fired would have aroused the town. It was a very exciting race
for life. The distance was about a mile, with this advantage only on the
part of the scouts, namely, that they knew the ground thoroughly, knew
every short-cut path to take or hill to evade. This familiarity with the
ground probably won the race for them. They knew too, that if they could
reach a stream which flowed into the Crab Tree Rim, from a spring near the
fort, they would be safe, for there they would be practically under the protec-
tion of the rifles m the fort. The foremost Indians, they concluded, would not
venture much nearer than the run until they were joined by the main forces.
Before they reached the creek they could hear the foot sounds of their pur-
suers, and a backward glance revealed the naked breasts and glistening fore-
locks of the savages. All of them ran directly to the fort except Shaw. He
iirst ran to his father's house to see if they were all safe, and then made for the
stockade gate. Before he reached the gate the savages were swarming on the
banks of the Crab Tree below. The fearless scout drew up his long barreled
gun and, taking deliberate aim, sent his unerring ball to end the career of a
warrior, and then quickly ran into the forr. He was the last to enter, and the
gate was closed and barred at once. Thus all the Hannastown people had
passed the stockade gates before the Indians reached the town.

In INlichael HuiTnagle's report he says that at about two o'clock in the
afternoon the town, consisting of about thirty houses and cabins, was at-
tacked by about one hundred and fifty Indians and Tories. When they saw
that they had failed to surprise the town, and that the scalps must be fought
for, if gained by them, they gave forth a prolonged, indescribable Indian yell,
resembling the cry of an infuriated wild beast in torture, the recollection of
which alone caused those who had escaped to shudder with horror, long years
afterward. The Indians then took possession of the houses and cabins in the
town, in full view of the fort. Clothes and household goods were thrown into
the streets. Some of the bolder Indians arrayed themselves in these clothes,
and, brandishing knives and tomahawks, danced in full view of the fort, though
at a safe distance from it. They soon assembled to consult as to what should
be done. Their gestures and talk were most vehement, but they were appar-
ently controlled by their leaders, who seemed to be white men dressed as
Indians. There seems to be no doubt but that this assembly of Indians and
their renegade white leaders could have been successfully fired on by the armed
forces in the fort. But those in the fort were slow to begin battle, knowing
their own weakness. They knew also that the force of Indians, though at
considerable loss, co.uld take the fort, and that their own safety lay in receiving
additional strength. After the consultation was ended, part of the band, per-
haps about one-third, started oflf in the direction of Miller's blockhouse. There
were, according to Hufifnagle's report, about one himdred remaining and about

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 175

fifty in the squad which went away. In a short time those remaining set fire
to the town in many places, and perhaps in every house. These houses had
been built some years, and their clapboard roofs were perfectly dry. In a few
minutes the entire town, save two houses which were too near the fort for them
to fire, was in flames. One house left standing- was Robert Hanna's, which had
served as a court house since the county was erected. The Indians found some
rum aiid whisky in the houses, and with the aid o.f this they had a very jovial
time while the town was burning. They paraded in the garments of the set-
tlers in full view of the fort, but at a safe distance. One Indian, however,
decked himself out in a bright colored military coat which he had taken from
one of the houses. He at length grew bold, and paraded, peacock-like, too
close to the stockade. Some one within, it is not known who, took a steady
shot at him. The Indian leaped into the air and fell dead. Thus his vanity
cost him his life.

All communication with the outside world was cut off when the stockade
gate was closed. There were several scouts out, but they did not return. On
the contrary, they kept moving about, alarming the settlement and trying to
devise some means of rescuing the inmates of the fort. The stockade at Han-
nastown was naturally a strong one, but on this occasion its defense was very
weak. Some reports say that they had only nine firearms, some say thirteen,
but all agree that they were of a poor quality, being the cast-off arms of the
militia. It is possible that a few of the scouts, like Shaw and Brison, had good
arms. The Hannastown people in the fort were largely elderly men and women
and children. The young people of the community were at Miller's block-
house that afternoon, as will be seen later on.

This weak condition of the fortress was known to those outside, and hence
their anxiety to devise some means of rescue rather than to try to save them-
selves. The whole number of those in the fort is not known, nor are t'leir
names given in any of the accounts, except such few who performed certain
services worthy of special remark in the reports. At Miller's blockhouse, two
and a half miles southeast of Hannastown, were collected about forty people.
Samuel Miller had been a captain in the Eighth Regiment of the Pennsylvania
Line, but had been killed on July 7, 1778, while detailed in the recruiting ser-
vice in Westmoreland. His widow had married Andrew Cruickshanks. At
all times their house was open for all who came there socially or for safely.
In addition to the blockhouse there were several log cabins built nearby, and
all of them were strong in times of Indian raids, and were, moreover, capable
of being quickly barricaded. The Millers were a lively, sociable people, and
thither went the young men and maidens often for an evening's dance. But
these forty more or less people who were at Miller's that day did not go there
for safety, for it is well known that there were several people there from Han-
nastown, among whom were Judge Robert Hanna's wife and daughters. Now,
were they in quest of place of safety against the Indians, they would have re-
mained at home, for the Hannastown stockade was stronger than ^ililler's

176 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNT/.

blockhouse. It was the strongest fort between Fort Pitt and Fort Ligonier.
It has often been asserted that there was a wedding there that da}', and this was
the chief attraction, but this has as often been denied. Justice Richard Coul-
ter, who wrote his account of the burning of Hannastown in 1836, and who
gathered much of his material directly from those who were captured at ]\Iil-
ler's, as well as from others who participated in the affair, says this about the
wedding: "At Miller's there had been a wedding the day before. Love is a
delicate plant, but will take root in the midst of perils in gentle bosoms. A
young couple, fugitives from the frontier, fell in love and were married."

From the best testimony the writer can obtain, the Justice's story is reason-
ably well corroborated. Two families named Dunlap and Courla had some
time previous to tlfis moved farther west than Westmoreland, and were driven
back by the Indians in the summer of 1782. James Duncan, who has been
described as a young man of superior looks and bearing, belonged to one of the
returning families, and JMary Courla, a young Scotch girl who was long after-
ward written of as a very lovely and beautiful woman, belonged to the other.
Love in this case, like wild violets, blossomed in the wilderness, and they, on
their hurried flight from their frontier homes, were married near Hannastown,
on July 12, 1782. In the olden time the wedding day was the bride's day, and
the next day was the groom's, and its chief gathering was called the "Infair."
This day was often a gayer and more festive occasion than the wedding day
itself. It was celebrated at Miller's blockhouse, and this is doubtless the reason
why so many young people were there that fatal afternoon. From the fact that
neither the bride nor the groom were then residents in that community, and that
the gay assembly was not celebrating a wedding ceremony but an infair, has
probably sprung most of the doubt surrounding it. It is, moreover, on the
other hand, a fact that there were but few weddings among the pioneer fam-
ilies during the Revolution and Indian war troubles. But the very fact that
these ceremonies were so few and far between may have been the reason that
so many guests were bidden and present. All accounts agree that there were
many women there, chief among whom were Mrs. Hanna and her daughters.
The company had perhaps all assembled. There had been dancing to the tune
of a fiddle, and playing and great glee among the guests, as was the custom in
that day. Everything went off merrily until about the middle of the after-
noon, when suddenly, like a peal of thunder from a cloudless sky, the war-
whoop burst upon their ears, and a band of savages rushed into their midst.

Among the men who were there was Captain Brownlee, whose deeds as a
ranger have been mentioned. He was also one of Captain Erwin's bravest
soldiers in the Eighth Pennsylvania Regiment. When his enlistment expired
he left the service and devoted his energies to Indian fighting on the frontier.
In this he was very successful. He did not discriminate between a good and a
bad Indian, thinking perhaps that there were none of the former class. He
thought it his duty to kill an Indian as he would a snake or a dangerous wild
beast. Yet he was an excellent neighbor and a good husband and father. In-

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. lyj

deed, it was to protect those he loved that he remained at home rather than
do service in the army. Few names are better or more honorably known in '
border warfare than that of Brownlee. He Uved on a farm a short distance
northwest of Miller's blockhouse, lately the Frederick Cope farm, and now
owned by the Jamison Coal Company.

On the afternoon of the Hannastown trouble some men were mowing in a
field not far from Miller's blockhouse. Their quick ears caught the rumbling
of firing at Hannastown, and this was the first intimation they had of any
difficulty. At once they became apprehensive of danger and hastened to the
blockhouse. They left the field none too soon, for, as they were leaving it,
the fifty or more Indians from the Hannastown band of marauders entered it at
the other side. Here again the Indians were foiled, for they undoubtedly
meant to capture the men in the field and thus have an easy victory at Miller's.
By the time the mowers reached the blockhouse the Indians were but a short
distance behind, and the sound of the war-whoop had already terrified the
festive women and children. Some shots were fired, but the Indians very soon
closed in on the frightened party, and all were in the wildest confusion. A
few women ran over the hills and some of them escaped. A little girl, wha
lived to be an old arid highly respected woman, hid herself among the black-
berry bushes until night came. Most of those left behind were women and
children. The cries of these helpless people, mingled with the Indian yells,
added to the consternation of the few fighters who were left. But the mowers
did not desert them. One or two, at least, lost their lives in trying to save
those who were comparative strangers to them. But, though strangers, they
were defenseless women, and that has always called forth the best efforts of
Anglo-Saxon manhood. Those who ran at the first sign of danger made their
escape by going to the George cabin, while others made good their way to
Rugh's blockhouse. Some few, like the little girl, hid in the fields till night-
fall. The majority, and perhaps the more timid ones, remained in the houses
and were all captured.

When the Indians arrived, Brownlee was in the blockhouse, most likely as
a guard, and Mrs. Brownlee and her children were also there. He seized his
rifle and ran out to intercept two Indians who were just entering the yard. He
could easily have escaped, and it was probably his intention to do so, with the
hope of forming a strong party and overtaking them should they capture and
carry away the women and children. But his wife cried to him, "Captain, you
are not going to leave me, are you ?" The brave man turned around and gave
himself up as a prisoner to those to whom he had never before bent his knee.
He had faced the hostile Indians time and again, but he could not resist the
plea of his wife. No one who knew him imagined that he could make a selfish
escape. Very soon the blockhouses and cabins were surrounded, and all were
prisoners. Part of the Indian force was then sent out to hunt down the fright-
ened women and children who had escaped. Most of them were soon over-
taken and brought back to ^Miller's as prisoners.

IS

178 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

Among those who escaped by flight was the daughter of Judge Hanna.
She was taken on horseback by Samuel Findley, a pack-horse driver, and car-
ried to the country, and thus escaped. A young man who had hastened to
Miller's to give the alarm, in making his escape took with him a child, which
it is said was one of Brownlee's. He was very soon pursued by three or four
Indians who were gaining on him, although he could easily have distanced them
in a foot race had he not been burdened by the child. This race was kept up
for some time, and the young man's strength was rapidly waning. Fortunately,
he came to a thick growth of underbrush, and beyond it was a high rail fence
which bordered a field of uncut rye. He passed through the brush, mounted
the fence, and jumped from the top of it as far into the rye field as he could.
While in the brush and crossing the fence he was out of sight of the Indians.
Then he lay down on the ground in the rye with the child. Which fortunately
kept quiet. The Indians came up and passed him without discovering him.
They soon returned and looked more closely, but did not find him. Their
time was necessarily brief, and they left with many mutterings of disgust.

Another 3'oung man was escaping with his child, and was also assisting
his mother, an elderly woman, in the race, for a number of Indians were in hot
pursuit of them, when he found that all would be captured unless he abandoned
one or the other. So he put down the child, and helping his mother, they
both escaped. Now comes the strange part of the story, which, by the way,
is well authenticated. The Indians passed the child, perhaps unnoticed ; at all
events, they did not kill it. The ne.xt morning the child was found in the
former home safe and sound. After the storm was over it had probably in-
nocently wandered back to it's home.

Mrs. Cruickshank also tried to escape with a child, and was assisted by
her brother. They were pursued by but one Indian. Finally, as he was gain-
ing upon them, the brother turned and fired at him. The Indian dodged behind
trees and the shot may have missed him. But he did not pursue them further.
In the excitement of shooting at the Indian they forgot the child and ran on
without it. The next morning it, too, was found in it's cabin home at Millers,
sleeping the sleep of innocent childhood in it's own little cot. This child lived
to be an old woman. She was married to a man named Campbell, and often
related the story as it was given to her from lips that had long since been
silent.

All these and many more were the happenings of a half-hour after the In-
dians reached Miller's. Soon after the Indian party captured Brownlee, true
to his promise, Captain Jack came galloping toward the house to give the
alarm. As he approached he saw he was too late, for he was not slow to
perceive that the yard was full of Indians. He therefore turned his horse
and galloped wildly away. The Indians had remained quiet as he approached,
but as he turned they .sent a shower of bullets after him. They all missed him,
although they whistled about his head and one cut his bridle rein. From there
he rode over the country to George's, where the fugitives from ]\Iiller's were

HISTORY OP WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 179

collecting, and where a relief party of pioneers was rapidly being organized.

But the alarm was not confined to this community alone. It was a still,
calm afternoon, preceding a rain, when sound traveled" a long distance. Many
in the neighborhood heard the excessive firfng and were on the alert. At Unity
church, six or seven miles east of Miller's, the congregation had met for pre-
paratory communion services when the rumor of the incursion came. The
people hastened to their homes, and the pastor, Rev. James Power, who lived
long afterward to tell the story, rode with his utmost speed to his home near
Mt. Pleasant. Men in fields heard the distant roar of muskets, and went to
their homes to make bullets, call in their children, and barricade the openings
in their cabins. All near Allen's fort were gathered there. About one and a
half miles north of Greensburg, on the Salem road, lived a man named Kepple.
He was in his field, and noticed his dog frisking angily about as though he
scented danger. He also heard the far-off rumble, perhaps from Hannastown.
He hastily unhitched his horses and went to his log house, which was built
for a residence and fortress both. One or two families of the neighborhood
also gathered there. They at once closed up the openings and were prepared
fo,r a siege.

The Indians proceeded hurriedly to secure the prisoners taken at Miller's.
The hands of the men were tied behind their backs, and after taking from the
houses all they wanted in the way of provisions, clothes, etc., they fired the
blockhouse, which was consumed. The smaller cabins were not all de-
stroyed. Those who went there for safety had taken with them their live-
stock, consisting of cattle, horses and a few sheep. These were all shot by the
Indians. Botli HufFnagle and Duncan, in their reports, estimate that one hun-
dred cattle were killed. Of the captive prisoners the most conspicuous man
was Captain Brownlee. Two of Robert Hanna's daughters were at Miller's
participating in the function that afternoon, and one was taken. They are
said to have been very attractive young women. Their names were Marion
and Jeanette.

The captive prisoners were made to carry the goods stolen from their
houses. The women and children were driven in a flock. It was a sad march,
yet some stout hearts kept up, perhaps in the hope of relief by pursuing neigh-
bors, for this was not an unusual happening in border warfare. Brownlee
kept up his courage, and undoubtedly added strength to the disconsolate party.
At length an unthinking woman, said to have been Mrs. Robert Hanna, through
her tears, said, "Captain Brownlee, it is well you are here to cheer us up."
This unfortunate remark was undoubtedly the first intimation the Indians had
that their do.cile prisoner was their fearless enemy. Captain Brownlee. All
the Indians knew him by name and reputation, but few Indians who met him
face to face ever disturbed settlers afterwards. After all was over it was
plain to Captain Brownlee's friends that he was all the while attempting to
conceal his identity with the hope of keeping up the concealment for a day
•or so. when all might be rescued. None knew better than he that his days

i8o HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

were numbered when the Indians discovered who he was. It was thus to con-
ceal his name that he gave himself up when resistance would probably have
availed him nothing. He kept quiet, and was extremely meek when they tied
his hands and pl-aced heavy burdens on his back. All this was entirely unlike
the bold and fearless Brownlee, whom the Indians knew of only. All his acts
were now apparently indicative of perfect submission. He was evidently try-
ing to .deceive them. All his friends, both among the prisoners and among
those who were free, believed implicitly that he would soon escape, perhaps
that night, and return with a full knowledge of their strength and how best to
follow and attack them. If so, he could raise a company which would avenge
the outrage at Miller's. But at the time his name was mentioned by the unfor-
tunate woman, his doom was decided on. Immediately there were hasty
glances from one Indian to another, and two of them in gutteral tones con-
sulted together. In addition to his burden he was carrying one of his children
on his back. As he bent down to enable the innocent child tOi cling more tightly
with its arms around his neck, a savage sneaked up behind him and buried a
hatchet in his brain. Brownlee fell dead, and the child rolled over him. As it
was scrambling to it's feet the Indian killed it in the same way. A woman near
by screamed and fell swooning to the ground. She met with the same ill fate,
the Indians doubtless mistaking her for the wife of Brownlee. Mrs. Brownlee,
on account of her children and the other captives, was compelled to witness
these barbarous deeds in the silent agony of despair. The Brownlees' bodies
and that of the woman were found about one-half mile from IMiller's, and were
buried, as was the custom then, on the spot where they fell. Over his grave
stood a wild cherry tree which grew to immense size and marked the spot for
many years. A second grew from its roots or .stump, and it is now half grown,
and is preserved by the owner of the field, Mr. J. J. Blank. It is but a short
distance east from his residence. The farm was formerly the Meckling farm.

The march of the captives was toward Hannastown, and, when there, they
joined the band which had remained to burn the town. About dark the entire
band changed their location, moving to the northeast, and encamping for the
night in the ravine, or hollow made by Crabb Tree creek. There they partook
of what provisions they had. Some watched the prisoners, while others at-
tended a council to deliberate what should be the next move.

While the detached band of Indians was destroying the Miller blockhouse
and returning with their prisoners, the Indians at Hannastown kept a close
watch on the fort. They also kept up an irregular fire on it all afternoon.
They were evidently afraid to attack it : they did not know of its real weakness.
Those within had only feelings of hope and fear. If their neighbors could not
unite and rescue them they expected captivity and death the next morning.

The romantic event of the afternoon was the shooting of Margaret Shaw.
The story of this young girl's death has been repeated many times, but it never
grows old. It has been exaggerated by romanticists, but the simple story

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. i8i

makes her character and actions so beautiful and attractive that no false col-
oring is necessary. She has lived since, and always shall live in the sad
story of that day, as a genuine heroine of Hannastown. She was the daughter
of Moses Shaw, and the sister of Alexander and David Shaw. Both of her
brothers were hunters and scouts, and both were well known Indian fighters
and rangers. David had entered the Revolution as a substitute for his
father. When his term of enlistment expired he came home like Brownlee to
assist in border defense. Like Brownlee, too, he thought it was always right
to kill an Indian. Otherwise he was a man of most gentle nature, and was liv-
ing up to his general reputation when, before he entered the fort, he first ran
to ascertain whether his father's family had been taken in or not. Margaret
(or Peggy, as she was called), resembled him in the gentleness of her dispo-
sition. She was about fourteen years old, but large and strong for her age.
During the afternoon in the fort the older people were devising means of
defense should an attack be made, and perhaps the children were somewhat
neglected. Inadvertently a small child wandered toward the picketing of the
fort, and was in a section of the enclosure which was within the range of the
enemy's bullets. Seeing this, ]\Iargaret ran to it to fetch it back to safety. As
she bent down to pick it up a bullet struck her in the breast and penetrated
her right lung. With the skill in surgery of our present day she might easily
have recovered. As it was, she lingered two weeks and had wasted away until
she was but a mere skeleton, when death relieved her. She was buried at a
Presbyterian graveyard two miles north of Mt. Pleasant, now known as the
Middle churches.

Thus it will be seen that there was a great deal of firing at Hannastown,
and this, among other things, aroused the entire community. The men as-
sembled at George's are said to have fired all their guns at once to arouse the
neighborhood. About forty men gathered there by dark. All were bent on
rescuing the prisoners in the fort. The night fortunately brought dark clouds
and rain which favored the rescuing party. Only about thirty of them were
able to go to the relief of the fortress. Suspicions of cowardice were hinted
for long years afterwards, concerning some who failed to accompany them. Of
these thirty, many were on horses and all were armed. The location of the
Indians, the destruction of the town, etc., was all reported by scouts who, by
much practice, were as wary as the Indians themselves. The party advanced
with great caution. They could see from the gleam of burning logs the outline
of the fort with its whitewashed palisades. As they crept up to it the scouts
made known their arrival, the gates were opened and all entered in safety.

As soon as the evening meal was over the Indians proceeded to divide
their plunder. Many of them attired themselves in the new garments which
fell to them. One unusually large Indian tried to array himself in a silk
dress, but could not get his foot through the sleeve. His attempts were very
ludicrous, and he seemed highly pleased that he could make others laugh
so heartily. They also prepared to celebrate their victory. One captive was

i82 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

selected, his body painted with black stripes, and tied to a tree. He was to
be tortured by being burned alive. They also made the prisoners run the
gauntlet, the men first and then a number of the women. Some of them were
very badly beaten. The daughter of Robert Hanna was put through, but
had gained the favor of an Indian by laughing at his grotesqueness when
arrayed in the silk dress, and therefore got through without great injury.
But a young woman named Freeman, who had red hair, which was always
held in contempt by the dark-haired race, was beaten nearly to death. More
than a generation afterward she was treated by Dr. Postlewaite, in Greens-
burg, for injuries to her skull received that night. But about twelve o'clock
the Indians discovered that forces were arriving at the fort. They did not
have time to torture the prisoner, so they tomahawked him and soon after-
ward began their march.

It was believed by those in the fort that an attack would be made in the
morning, so they tried to. deceive the Indians by making them think that very
large forces had arrived. Some old drums were brought out and beaten.
There was a wooden bridge across the entrance to the fort, and all the horses
were galloped across this bridge to the music of the drums. They were then
taken around the bridge and brought over several times. All in the fort
were now hilarious, or acting so, at least, and, as was intended, these acclama-
tions of joy, apparently over the arrival of forces, were plainly heard by the
Indians. It was, moreover, not unlikely that by twelve or one o'clock forces
should arrive from Fort Pitt or Fort Ligonier, and the stratagem had its
desired efifect on the minds of the Indians. As soon as possible, therefore,
they moved with their prisoners and baggage, stealing away so silently that
no one in the fort knew they were going. They traveled north, passing be-
tween Congruity and Harvey's Five Points and on northward, crossing the
Kiskiminetas at about where Apollo now stands. When morning came
those in the fort were delighted to learn that the Indians had gone. The
forces followed them as far as the place where they crossed the river, but
could not pursue them into the Indian country, which was then a wilderness.
For their failure to pursue them further they have been more or less cen-
sured, but we think unjustly. There were at least one hundred and fifty
well-armed Indians and Tories, and the forces in the fort, including the relief
party from George's, did not amount ta more than fifty, if both old and young
should join in the pursuit, which was practically impossible.

The Indians had with them about twenty prisoners, whom they had taken
at and near Miller's. Their march to Canada was comparatively without in-
cident, unusual in such parties, though it was a trying ordeal on the cast-
down and over-burdened prisoners. Arriving in Canada they sold both pris-
oners and scalps to the English for beads, trinkets, firearms and whisky.
The prisoners were kept until a final peace was effected between Great Britain
and the colonies, after which most of them found their way back to West-

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 183

moreland county. It has been often said that one of the daughters of Robert
Hanna, Marian, was married to a British officer, but this has been partly
disproved by recent researches.

Of those who are known to have helped to rescue the fort and follow
the Indians to the river, not yet mentioned here, were the Craigs, the Sloans,
Captain David Kilgore and two of his sons. Captain Wendel Ourry was also
with them. James Moore, of Salem township, who died in 1846, aged sev-
enty-three, wa3 in the fort. He was a child living with his widowed mother
in Hannastown when the great calamity overtook it. From Miller's was
taken Dorcas Miller, a daughter of Captain Samuel, and her younger brother,
whom they killed because he could not travel rapidly enough. Dorcas was
kept at Niagara, and some three years afterward was ransomed and sent
home by a British officer named Butler, who knew her father. She came
home, and was afterward married to Joseph Russell, residing most of her
Hfe on the farm where she was captured. She died in Greensburg, March

15. 1851-

Who commanded the Indian forces on the Hannastown raid will never
be certainly known. Some have written that it was Simon Girty. This is
now known to be an error, for it is latterly pretty well proved that he was
in Kentucky at that time. The leadership of nearly all incursions of that
character was attributed to him. It was more likely Guyasutha on the part
of the Indians, and Connolly of the Dunmore's war fame on the part of the
white Tories, though his presence was never proved. The Indians were
mainly from a small tribe called Munsies, then in northern Pennsylvania.

Captain Matthew Jack and David Shaw were for many years justly called
the "Heroes of Hannastown War." Jack was sheriff of the county at the
time, which probably accounts for his being at Hannastown that afternoon.
He was also a county justice, and was all-around one of the most noted and
daring Indian fighters of his day. He was a man of great strength and
agility, and was without personal fear. Often in after years, at barn-raisings,
musters, etc., he illustrated his manner of riding that day. He could place
his hat on the ground and pick it up a-s he galloped by. Later he was
known as General Jack, from his prominence in the Whisky Insurrection.
He was born in 1755, and died November 26, 1836. Both he and his wife,
Nancy (Wilson) Jack (born 1760, died September 20, 1840), are buried
at Congrnity, about seven miles northeast of Greensburg.

Hannastown was never rebuilt, though the courts were held there (the
courthouse not being burnt) for more than four years afterwards. Cities
of untold wealth and power have risen, but few of them have achieved as
glorious a record in history as this little collection of mud-plastered log huts,
built in the heart of a primeval forest in western Pennsylvania. It was per-
haps at its best in 1782, when it was burned.

On February 5. 1829, a petition was presented to the legislature of Penn-

i84 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

sylvania by the wife of Captain Brownlee, asking for a pension, and from
it we gather the following: She was born in Londonderry, in 1755, her
maiden name being Elizabeth Guthrie, and was a daughter of John Guthrie.
With her father she came to this country in 1771, and settled in Westmore-
land county, near the present town of Greensburg, in 1772. During Dun-
more's war they were repeatedly compelled to fly to Hannastown for safety.
In 177s she was married to Captain Brownlee, who was with Erwin as a
rifleman in the Revolution, and was taken a prisoner at the battle of Long
Island. After serving his time in the Revolution he came home and en-
gaged in Indian warfare until the burning of Hannastown. He, with his
wife and children, were captured at Miller's fort. In that petition it is stated,
also, that it was Mrs. Hanna, the wife of Robert Hanna, who mentioned
Captain Brownlee's name in the presence of the Indian captors, and thus
led to his identification and death, as indicated above. From there they were
taken to Cataraugus, a journey of thirteen days, during which the pris-
oners, unable to subsist on the scanty fare of the Indians, almost perished
from hunger. From Cataraugus they were taken to Bulifalo, where the In-
dians concluded, because of Mrs. Brownlee's weakness, she being greatly
reduced by fever and ague, to burn her at the stake. But a white man,
Captain Lattridge, told them she was too far reduced to afiford them any
amusement, and prevailed upon them to sell her for whisky, which would
afiford them much more pleasure. So they listened to his advice, and she and
her child, which she carried tied to her back, were marched to Niagara and
sold for twenty dollars and two gallons of rum. There she was better cared
for, and finally arrived in Montreal. When peace was declared, after many
hardships, she returned to Hannastown. Two years later she was married
to Captain William Guthrie, captain of the rangers in protecting the frontier.
Guthrie was a good Indian fighter but a poor farmer, and afforded her but
a scanty living. He lived until 1829, when he was killed by falling from
a wagon which went over the side of a high bridge. John Beatty, Robert
Orr, Sr., and Jane Beatty testify to these statements. By act of March 23,
1829, she was paid $60, and $60 per year thereafter as long as she lived.

Mrs. Robert Hanna's maiden name was Elizabeth Kelly, a daughter of
John Kelly, and she was a sister of Colonel John Kelly, a member of the
first Continental convention, also a soldier in the Revolution. Both she and
her daughter were taken to jMontreal, where they were kindly treated, through
the efforts of Rev. William Hanna, an Episcopal minister. They were re-
leased in December, 1782, and returned home by way of Lake George,
Albany, New York and Philadelphia. Jeanette Hanna, the captured daugh-
ter, afterward married David Hammond, an officer in the Revolution. They
were the parents of General Robert Hanna Hammond, who fought in the
Mexican war. They were buried near Milton, Pennsylvania.

In a letter from General William Irvine to General Washington, dated

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 185

January 27, 1783, we learn that the Indians had assembled near the head-
waters of the Allegheny. Further the letter says: "In the year 1782 a de-
tachment composed of three hundred British and five hundred Indians was
formed, and actually embarked in canoes on Lake Jadaque (Chautauqua)
with twelve pieces of artillery, with an avowed intention of attacking Fort
Pitt. This expedition was laid aside in consequence of the reported repairs
and strength of Fort Pitt, carried by a spy from the neighborhood of the
fort. They then contented themselves with the usual mode of warfare, by
sending small parties on the frontier, one of which burned Hannastown.*'

The destruction of Hannastown and the injuries inflicted on the com-
munity in connection with it were much more serious and far-reaching than
the reader may at first blush imagine. Its evil effects cannot be estimated in
dollars and cents, though when viewed, even from that standpoint alone, it
was a fearful calamity. For almost a quarter of a century western Penn-
sylvania had been gradually increasing, with Hannastown as its chief center
and seat of justice. Rude though its log cabins may have been, they were
the best in the community, and with their contents represented many years
of toil and sacrifice. Here the hardy pioneer had expended his best energies
in taming the land, and building up a civilization. Upon the perpetuity and
growth of law and order depended the values of their properties, not only
in Hannastown but all over Western Pennsylvania. But now all for which
they labored had been swept away by a single blow, and the word went east
to prospective settlers and land purchasers that in Westmoreland county,
even under the shadow of the temple of justice, savage warfare prevailed,
property was ruthlessly destroyed and life itself was in constant danger.

With the exception of a country store and a few old houses at Hannastown,
built long since the original town was destroyed, there is nothing there to
point the inquiring stranger to one of the most historic spots in western
Pennsylvania. When it was burned the war for Independence was prac-
tically over, for Cornwallis had surrendered to Washington in October of
the previous year. Its destruction was in reality the last instance in America
during the Revolution, in which the English united with their savage allies
to destroy the innocent pioneer by what can be called little else than common
butchery. The site of Hannastown is now farming land, owned bv Air.
William Steel.

CHAPTHR XIII

The Removal of County Seat to Greensburg.

It will be remembered that the law which provided for the formation
of the county specified also that the courts should be held at the house of
Robert Hanna until a courthouse should be built. The same act authorized
Robert Hanna, George Wilson, Samuel Sloan, Joseph Erwin and John Cavett,
or any three of them, to select a county seat, purchase land, and erect a court-
house. A letter has already been quoted in which Arthur St. Clair lamented
that the law had been worded so that the commissioners, by failing to build
a courthouse, could indefinitely continue the courts at Hannastown. That
was exactly what was done. Hanna was undoubtedly a strong-minded Irish-
man, of great shrewdness. Against the will of the people and against the
power of St. Clair, who had more than any other secured the erection of
the new county, he forced the unwilling committee to retain the county seat
at his place for thirteen years. Indeed, it is doubtful whether it would ever
have been removed had not the town been destroyed by the Indians.

Another misfortune for Hannastown was the location of the state road
about three miles south. This road was a better and a more direct route
between the east and the west than the Forbes road, on which Hannastown
was built. On the new road sprang up a village called Newtown, about
three miles southwest of Hannastown. This town, as well as Pittsburgh, be-
came an aspirant for the location of the county seat. The courts were reg-
ularly held at Hannastown after it was destroyed (July 13, 1782), and it
certainly must have been an inconvenient place, for but few houses were
rebuilt, and the town was practically without accommodations. Still, Hanna
was strong enough to prevent the commission from acting, and therefore
the courts were from vear to vear held at his house.

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 187

In 1784 this question of a county seat was carried to the legislature, and
on November 22 an act was passed which set forth that, whereas, the trustees
appointed by the law erecting the county had not cornplied with the powers
given them to erect county buildings, they were dismissed, and a new com-
mission was named. The new commissioners were John Irwin, Benjamin
Davis, Charles Campbell, James Pollock and Joseph Wilkins. They or any
three of them were authorized and empowered to perform the duties required
of the commissioners in the erecting act of February 26, 1773. The second
board of commissioners could not agree on the location, though they met
and deliberated over the various claimants. They were confronted by rep-
resentatives from three places, all demanding the county seat. First, Robert
Hanna and his friends wanted it to remain in Hannastown. Second, there
were those who were trying to have it located in Pittsburgh, which was then
by far the most important town in Westmoreland county, and was rapidly
increasing in population. Third, there was the village of Newtown, well
located and full of promise, and its friends were urging it with all their
power.

Upon the refusal or inability of the second commission to select between
these three aspiring towns, the legislature, on September 13, 1785, removed
them and appointed a third board. As this act is the one under which the
county seat was actually located, we give that part of it in full :

"Whereas, the seat of justice of Westmoreland hath not heretofore been established
by law, for want of which the inhabitants labor under great inconveniences, it shall and
may be lawful for Benjamin Davis, Michael Rugh, John Shields, John Ponieroy and Hugh
]\Iartin, of the county of Westmoreland or any three of them, to purchase and take
assurance in the name of the Commonwealth, of a piece of land in trust for the use
of the inhabitants of Westmoreland county : Provided said piece of land be not situated
furiher east than the Nine Mile Run, nor further west than Bushy Run, further north
than Loyalhanna, nor further south than five miles south of the Old Pennsylvania road
leading to Pittsburgh : On which piece of ground said commissioners shall erect a Court
House and prison, sufficient to accommodate the public service of the said county."

By this act it will be seen that Pittsburgh had lost all power in the legis-
lature, for the county seat could not go further west than Bushy Run, which
is at least twenty miles east of Pittsburgh. The act further provided that the
money expended in purchasing land and erecting a court house and jail should
not exceed one hundred pounds.

The contest now lay between Hannastown, on the old and somewhat
abandoned Forbes road, and Newtown, now beginning to be called Greens-
burg, on the new state road. Of the new commissioners named in the above
act, Benjamin Davis lived in Rostraver township, ]\Iichael Rugh in Hemp-
field township, Hugh Martin in Mt. Pleasant township, John Shields in
Salem township, and John Pomeroy in Derry township. Three of them

l88 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

lived south of the Forbes road and three north of it, while Pittsburgh had no
representative on the commission at all, even if the act itself had not proscribed
it as a county seat.

Shortly after .their appointment the commission viewed the territory, and
met at Hannastown to deliberate. On November ist and 2nd they came to
no agreement, and in December met again at Newtown (or Greensburg) and
the three of them living south of the Forbes road decided on Newtown as
the county seat. They were Benjamin Davis, Michael Rugh and Hugh
Martin. John Shields and John Pomeroy, living north of the Forbes road,
favored Hannastown, and, dissenting from the decision, refused to act fur-
ther with the trustees or commissioners. But by the terms of the act three
of them had the necessary power, and on December lo, 1785, they entered
into an agreement with Christopher Truby and William Jack, to which
Ludwig Otterman afterwards subscribed, to sell to them, in trust for the
county, two acres of land on which to erect public buildings. This day,
December 10, 1785, is the day upon which Greensburg was legally selected
as the county seat of Westmoreland county.

The three trustees proceeded at once to erect the public buildings. An-
thony Altman was selected to erect the court house, and was to perform the
work under the supervision of Michael Rugh, who was a trustee. The
court house and jail were but one building, built of logs and heavy plank.
The jail portion had a heavy stone wall which extended some distance above
the ground, perhaps to keep prisoners from cutting their way out. The
structure was pushed rapidly, and by July ist, 1786, both jail and court house
were ready for occupancy. The trustees reported its completion to the July
sessions of the court at Hannastown. Upon this the justices of the peace,
who were also judges of the courts, visited the new county seat and inspected
its buildings, after which they made the following report :

We the subscribers. Justices of the Peace in and for the county of Westmoreland,
upon receiving a written report from the Trustees of said county informing us that a
new Court House and prison was erected in Newtown, and that a number of other con-
venient buildings were also erected and open for entertainmenT, found that we were war-
ranted by law in adjourning our courts to the said town; now being desirous as soon as
possible to take leave of the many inconveniences and difficulties which attend our situa-
tion at Hannastown, as well as to avoid the cost for rent for a very uncomfortable house,
in which we held our courts, we did, therefore, accordingly adjourn to the said town.
And we do certify that we found a very comfortable, convenient Court House and prison,
included in one commodious building, together with a number of large commodious
houses, open for public entertainment, in which we enjoyed great satisfaction during our
residence at court. We do further give it as our opinion that the situation is good, and
possessed of every natural advantage that can contribute to the comfort and conven-
ience of an inland town ; that it is as nearly centrical to the body of people as any spot
that can be found possessed of the same advantages : that it lies in direct course between
Ligonier and Pittsburgh, and will admit of the straightest and best road between these

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY

;\vo places : that its situation is in the center of the finest and weaUhiest settlement in
this western country, and cannot fail of being supplied with the greatest abundance, upon
the most reasonable terms ; in short, we think the said Trusteees have done themselves
lienor in their choice and proceeding through the whole of this business. Given under
our hand the lOth of August, 1786.

Hugh Martin. Alexander Mitchell, William Jack. •

Richard Williams, Christopher Truby, George Baird.

John Miller, George Wallace,

There was still a great deal of hostility against Newtown (now Greens-
burg) as a county seat. This dissatisfaction came from north of the Forbes
road, and from the region around Pittsburgh. All these interests united to
overthrow what had already been done in the way of permanently locating
the seat of justice at Greensburg. As a result of this agitation the legisla-
ture on December 27, 1786, passed an act suspending the authority granted
to the trustees to establish a county seat, etc., until further directed. The
act further provided that the trustees were to exhibit their accounts, with
proper vouchers for all expenditures made by them in their work so far as
they had gone. These were to be inspected by William Moore, Charles
Campbell and James Bryson, and to be laid before the justices of the court
and the grand jtiry. Two of these inspecting committeemen were from un-
friendly sections, Bryson being then a resident of Pittsburgh and Campbell
of Wheatfield township, now in Indiana county. The subject was takew
up by the people, who discussed it in the Pittsburgh Gazette, there being then
no newspaper in Greensburg. Some one from Brush Creek, who signs
himself "A Friend of His Country,' has a letter in the Gazette of October
26, 1786, from which we quote extensively.

"It is well known that the establishment of our present seat of justice was not a
hasty, rash or inconsiderate piece of business. Almost sixteen years elapsed since it first
claimed the attention of the Government ; it has been deliberately considered and cau-
tiously conducted ; the sense of the people have been generally and repeatedly known by
petition, remonstrance, etc., and in consequence thereof no less than four different Acts
of the Legislature have been passed to effect and complete its establishinent. When we
reflect upon the many evils which have resulted from the want of such establishment,
I think we ought rather to congratulate ourselves on the event, and rest perfectly satis-
fied that it is at last fixed anywhere nearly centrical to the body of the people."

Hugh Henry Brackenridge, who was then a member of the legislature
from this county, and a resident of Pittsburgh, on December 16, 1786, wrote
the following letter, which was published in the Gazette of January 6, 1787:

I90 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

"A bill is published superceding the powers of the Trustees for building a Court
House and jail in Greensburg. The object is to prevent any further expenditure of
public money in public buildings at that place, inasmuch as the Court House and jail
already erected are sufficient, at least for a number of years. This appeared to us, the
Representatives from Westmoreland, to be sufficient for the present. It must remain
with future time to determine whether the seat of justice shall be removed or a new
county erected on the Kiskiminetas. The last, I believe, will be deemed most eligible."

In the same paper of February lo, 1787, the following letter appeared,
written by one who signed himself "A Friend of Westmoreland" :

"We find by Mr. Brackenridge's late publication that the seat of justice in this county
yet remains an object of envy in our Legislature, as 'a bill is published superceding
th.e powers of the Trustees for building a Court House and jail in Greensburg': I wonder
when we shall see an end of the cavilings on this subject, and the succession of ridiculous
laws occasioned thereby . 3y the first law we find a number of Trustees appointed for
erecting a Court House and prison, etc. By the, second law we find their proceedings
rejected, though perfectly legal, and the former repealed, and another set of Trustees
appointed, with more extensive and conclusive powers. A third law approves and con-
firms their proceedings, and a fourth law supercedes their powers in the midst of the
duty assigned them ; and to carry the farce a little farther, I think the fifth law ought to
amount to the total annihilation of the county."

The reader will discover that in the justices' letter or certificate given
above, and dated August 10, 1786, they say that they have adjourned the
courts to the new court house in Newtown. They had probably done this,
but even then troubles were brewing, engendered largely by Hanna and
his friends, who were loathe to see the courthouse leave Hannastown. So,
to in some degree appease the wrath of these adherents of Hanna, it was
determined to hold the October term of court in Hannastown, and this was
accordingly done. The first court held in Greensburg was the January term
of 1787, beginning on January 7th, with Judge John Moore on the bench.
The following is a list of the jurors who served at this first court in the new
county seat : Grand Jurors— David Duncan, James Carnahan, John Carna-
han, John Sloan, Abrahm Fulton, Charles Baird, William Best, Nathaniel
McBrier, Joseph Mann, James Fulton, William Mann, Charles Johnston,
Jacob Hufifman, Samuel Sinclair, and John Craig. Traverse Jurors : Al-
exander Craig, John McCready, Peter Cherry, John GifTen, John Buch,
Philip Cams, Patrick Campbell, George Swan, Isaac McKendry, Robert
McKee, John Anderson, James Watterson and Lawrence Irwin.

The term only lasted for about three days, and the minutes do not show
any proceedings of momentous interest. The grand jury, however, reported

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 191

that the new jail was insufficient, and not strong enough to hold the pris-
oners.

The trustees submitted their account as required by the suspending act.
The total expenditures so far had been less than a thousand dollars. The ac-
counts were finally laid before the grand jury on July 17, 1787.

It may be added here by way of explanation, that much of Brackenridge's
opposition to the court house and county seat proceedings arose from his de-
sire to fomi a new county. This is intimated in his letter above quoted, though
there he, for reasons of his own, located his proposed new county on the Kis-
kiminetas. His object was probably to unite the north with him in opposition
to Westmoreland and in the end take them into the new county at the forks of
the Ohio river. It is admitted on all hands that he was elected to the legisla-
ture for the purpose of erecting a new county. To this project our part of
Westmoreland was naturally hostile. They were proud of their large dimen-
sions, as the county was originally formed, but ini78i Washington county, and
in 1783 Fayette county, were entirely carved from our territory. Naturally
they tried to prevent any further encroachments on their territory. Neverthe-
less, by the Act of September 24. 1788, .Allegheny county was organized from
Westmoreland.

After the formation of Allegheny county an act was passed on February
14, 1789, repealing the superceding act, and authorizing the Westmoreland
trustees to proceed in the erection of a court house and jail. The act itself is
all the defense they need as against the act supending them. It recites that,
whereas they found it expedient to erect at once a small wooden structure to
accommodate the business as a temporary convenience, until a more substantial
one could be built, and that whereas the temporary structure was too small
and inconvenient, that ^^'estmoreland county should have "a decent, sufficient
and pennanent building," constructed by the expenditure of the balance of the
money levied and collected for that purpose agreeable to the intention of the;
law. Therefore it was enacted that the said trustees be required to apply the
remaining part of the money as indicated above. This remaining part was
about four thousand dollars, and in 1796 and 1797 they proceeded to build our
second court house, though really the first permanent one in Greensburg.
During the Whisky Insurrection the building of it was temporarily abandoned.
It was not completed till 1801, although the courts were held in it a year or
two before that, and the state supreme court met in it in 1799. It was a two-
story brick building, for by this time a law was passed compelling all counties
which had not already done so, to build court houses of brick or stone. It
fronted towards the east, that is, on Main street, with an arched door entrance
in the center. In the rear was a smaller door which led to the jail yard. The
main building stood on the old courthouse square, with its gable front on Main
street. The whole of the first storv was used as a court room. This room

192

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY

was divided by a balustrade running north and south. The part west of the
division, that is, the rear of the room, was reserved for the judges, lawyers,
jurymen, litigants, etc., while the front, or eastern division, was used as an
audience room by those who attended court. The judges sat against the west-
ern wall, facing the east. There were large round columns in the center, along
the line of the balustrade, which supported the ceiling. In the upper story was
a large grand jury room, where theatrical performances and other public meet-
ings were frequently held when not in use by the courts. Above the second
story was the belfry, wherein the old courthouse bell was hung.

North of this structure, but built against it, was a two-story brick building
in which were the offices of the sheriff, recorder, prothonotar, clerk of courts,
etc., etc. South of it was a brick building one-story high, which was used as
a county commissioners' office only.

The old log court house served its purpose until about 1794. After that
time it was used for public offices until 1797, when it was removed. From
June, 1794, until April, 1795, the courts were held in a tavern kept by Robert
Taylor. After that, for about three years, they were held in a tavern kept by
Bartel Laffer. The new brick courthouse when completed in 1801 was con-
sidered a very handsome structure, and was so commented on by many travelers
who chanced to pass through Greensburg.

The long continued contest with the trustees who built the log court house,
and the opposition to their expenditure of the public money, has been urged in
defense of a mistake which they committed from which the county can never
recover. It will be remembered that they purchased two acres of ground in
Newtown (or Greensburg) for county buildings. It can scarcely be said that it
was purchased, for the purchase money was only five shillings, or about the
nominal sum of one dollar — common even yet, in such transactions, for the
purpose of making a legal transfer. Two acres was more ground than they
needed in that day, and in order to reduce the grounds of complaint to their
minimum, they concluded to sell over three-fourths of it. The two acres were
divided into ten lots by Benjamin Davis, who was one of the trustees and a sur-
veyor as well. In October, 1786. after publicly advertising them, nine of these
lots were sold, the other being reserved for court house purposes. The original
two acres were bounded by Main street, West Otterman street, Pennsylvania
avenue and West Pittsburgh street, being one full square, and the lot reserved
is the ground upon which the new courthouse, the fourth in Greensburg, is
now being builded. For these nine lots the trustees received $258.88. In
1795 a law was passed by the legislature legalizing the sale.

The new county town was at first named Newtown, most likely by Christo-
pher Truby, one of the original land owners. He had removed to our county
from Bucks county in 1771. In the east he had lived in or near a small village
named Newtown, which had become historic during the Revolution, for there
Washington had his headquarters for a time in 1776, when he was battling

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUXTY. 193

ftith almost a forlorn hope, against the British army. It is supposed that he
named the cluster of log houses springing up on his land after his historic
home in Bucks count}-. In 1786 it was named Greensburg, in memory of the
Rhode Island Quaker, Major General Nathanael Greene, to whom most writers
have given first place among the generals of the Revolution after Washington.

CHAPTER XIV

Thr W'hisky Insurrection.

The Whisky Insurrection was confined almost entirely ta four counties in
Southwestern Pennsylvania, viz. : Allegheny, Westmoreland, Washington and
Fayette. Of these four, Westmoreland county was the least concerned. The
trouble was due to the method adopted, mainly by the National Government,
of raising money by taxation. This tax was known in the popular language
of that day as an excise tax, a term extremely opprobrious to the English speak-
ing people of all ages. These people were not opposed to paying tax, if levied,
for example, on landed property, -for then it was at least supposed to. be based
on the valuation of the land. Xor did they seriously object to a tarifif, which
is primarily a duty collected on all articles brought into this country from
abroad. But an excise tax is one levied on home manufactures, and collected
either when the material is produced, or when it is first offered for sale. If
fairly collected, its very nature demands that the government imposing and
collecting it shall take charge, to a very great extent, of the labor and the raw
material which produces the commodity tOi be taxed. Because of this neces-
sary supervision on the part of the government, the excise tax had for ages been
obnoxious in Great Botam. In Scotland the inherent hatred of excise duties
had become proverbial before the days of Robert Burns, for in his age, among
the peasantry, the killing of an excise tax-collector was considered almost, if
not entirely a virtue. This was largely due to the necessary supervision which
the collector imposed on the private aiTairs of the individual.

The predominating nationality among the pioneers of these four counties
was Scotch-Irish. But whether they were Scotch-Irish, English, Scotch or
Irish, they brought here a deep-rooted hatred for the excise system of the Eng-
lish government. These four counties, as we have seen, were moreover well
ada]3te(l to the product of grain, and could in that day of limited market, pro-
duce but little else that was salable to any extent. Of course, we have spoken
of the skin and fur trade, but that was necessarily the business of but few of
the early pioneers, and could not be followed by our people generally. There
seemed to be an injustice in the excise tax on liquor for the reason that the tax

HISTORY OF IVESTMORELAXD COUXTV. 195

was based on the quantity of goods, and not on their vakie. Our owners of
poor lands of today could with reason object to a system of taxation if the same
amount of tax was levied on every acre of land in the state. Land in our .
mountains may be assessed at one dollar per acre, and lands near our cities at
a thousand dollars per acre, and the tax based on these valuations may be per-
fectlv equitable. Our pioneers imagined that the very opposite of this equit-
able adjustment was brought about by the excise tax on distilled spirits. To
illustrate their view of the situation: Whisky in any of these four counties
could be purchased in any desirable quantities at from twenty to twenty -five
cents per gallon, and an excise tax of seven cents per gallon was a little more
than one-fourth of its value. But this same whisky, if transported to Philadel-
phia, or if a liquor of equal grade was produced near there, would readily sell
for fifty or sixty cents per gallon, and the excise duty of seven cents per gallon
was therefore less than one-eighth of its value. So they theorized and rea-
soned that if a farmer in Westmoreland county raised a hundred dollars' worth
of rye and made it into whisky, he paid twenty-five dollars tax on it, but if he
lived near Philadelphia, and by the same labor produced the same amount of
rye, he paid but twelve dollars. Those who framed the law had in view, of
course, the greater value of the land in the east than in the west. Nevertheless
the apparent injustice was very patent to those who, while they could not un-
derstand fine theories of economics, could see the difference between giving the
government the one-fourth of their grain product in \\'ashington county, and
only the one-eighth of it in another section.

An excise law in Pennsylvania had been passed by the legislature in 1772,
but had never been carried out, particularly in the western section, largely be-
cause there v/ere but few products here to tax. But the state still owed con-
siderable money on the Revolutionary war debt, which had been appropriated
but never paid. This law of 1772 was greatly opposed by the counties west of
the Allegheny Mountains. It w^as complied with in a. measure by the eastern
counties, who rightfully complained violently of the growing injustice of
forcing them and not the western counties to pay the excise tax. It was there-
fore concluded in 1785 to pay the Revolutionary debt by an enforcement of the
excise law of 1772. This, they reasoned, was such a debt that the patriotic
men of the w^st, who had done sO' much for the cause of freedom, would gladly
help to pay regardless of the mode of taxation. So in June, 1785, an excise
collector named Graham was sent out to enforce the obnoxious law. He met
with much opposition by all o.ur people, but succeeded in collecting some money
in Fayette county, and perhaps a few small amounts in Westmoreland county.
When ready to begin on our county he came to Greensburg and put up at a
hotel. About midnight he was awakened and called to his door by a man of
gigantic proportions, in complete disguise, who told Graham that his name
was Beelzebub, the Prince of Devils, and that a number of his smaller devils
were outside waiting for him, and that it was his pleasant duty to hand him

196 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAXD COUNTY.

over to them. After mucli trouble, with the assistance of the landlord, the
collector managed to escape the mob. He had a man arrested whom he
thought to be the pretended Beelzebub, but on a trial the defendant proved an
alibi, and was discharged. So he left Greensburg and went over to Washing-
ton county, where he received still rougher treatment. The Washington mob
took his pistols and broke them to pieces before his eyes. They also took his
commission and all of his papers, and threw them in a very muddy part of the
street, and then compelled the collector to walk back and forth over them and
tramp them out of sight in the mud. Then they shaved one side of his head,
fixed his hat up so that it looked ridiculous, and compelled him to wear it
wrong end foremost, for the cocked hats of those days were made with a well-
defined front to them. They also shaved his horse's tail, and then put him
astride of the animal and started him toward the Westmoreland county line,
with instructions that he should not stop until he passed from Washington
county. A committee o.f the mob went with him and made him "halt" at every
still house, where they compelled him to drink a sample of their product.
When he reached the county line he was passed over to Westmoreland, and
threatened with treatment compared with which his present treatment was
mild, should he ever return. So the west would not pay the excise tax on.
whisky, and rather than engage in an open war the legislature repealed the
law. But in 1791, Congress passed a law laying four pence (about eight
cents) per gallon on all distilled spirits. These four counties with which we
are dealing, had two members in congress. They were Smiley, from Fayette
county, and William Findley, from Westmoreland. They opposed its passage
all they could, but it was nevertheless passed. In opposing it they undoubtedly
expressed the almost unanimous sentiments of their constituents. Findley, at
least, was a man of fine ability. Albert Gallatin, undoubtedly one of the
greatest men of the nation, was then a citizen of Fayette county, and opposed
it with all his power.

But when they came to appoint a collector, for once no one wanted the ap-
pointment. The government also, on March 3rd, 1791, modified the tax and
the general provisions of the law, to take efTect, however, only in 1794.

In the meantime the four western counties were united in their opposition
to the law or its execution, and were boastful of the victory they had achieved
over the state government. They were now emboldened by their success to-
resist the national authority as well.

The state was divided into districts for the purpose of collecting this excise
tax on liquor, and an inspector was appointed for each district,- or "survey,""
as they were denominated in the act. By the terms of the law each distiller
was to furnish the inspector nearest his works a full description of his estab-
lishment, which was at any time to be open to a visit and a searching examina-
tion on the part of the inspector. This does not seem unreasonable to us now,
but it appeared to raise the wrath of the pioneer to its highest pitch. A public

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 197

meeting to oppose the law was accordingly called at Redstone (now Browns-
ville) for July 27th, 1791, and all of the four counties were to be represented
by delegates. The meeting was held on the day appointed, with a very general
attendance of delegates. They recommended county meetings in the county
seats of the counties of Allegheny, Westmoreland, Fayette and Washington.
The Washington county meeting was the most hostile. They resolved in a
published resolution, that any one who accepted an office under Congress, and
who tried by virtue of the office to execute the provisions of the excise law,
should be regarded as an enemy to his country. They advised the people to
treat all officers with scorn and contempt, and to refuse to associate with them.
A meeting of delegates was held in Pittsburgh, on September 7, 1791, which
also passed resolutions against the law.

The government finally appointed Benjamin Wells, of Fayette county, as
the excise collector for Fayette and Westmoreland counties, and Robert John-
son, of Allegheny county, for Washington and Allegheny counties. Wells was
not a man of high character by any means, and could not have been chosen to
any office by those who knew him. Johnson was a good man, of honest inten-
tions, though not a man of great force. Wells opened an office at his own
house near Connellsville, on the south side of the Youghiogheny river. John-
son Avas overtaken on the road home, on September 6, by a band of disguised
men, who stripped him naked and gave him a complete coat of tar and feathers,
then shaved his head, and, taking his horse, started him home on foot in this
condition. Then came an officer to arrest the supposed offenders. He was
promptly hoTsewhipped, tarred and feathered, and his money and horse taken
from him. Then he was blindfolded, taken to the woods, and tied to a tree
where he remained for five hours, till an accidental passerby released him.

In May, 1792, Congress lowered the rate of tax and permitted the distiller
to take out a monthly license instead of a yearly one, but the penalty for not
complying with the law was raised from one hundred to two hundred and fifty
dollars. No office could be procured for the officer in Washington or West-
moreland county, but each officer established his home as his office in the other
two counties. In June, 1792, Wells undertook to open an office in Greensburg
and one in L'niontown, but he was soon forced to abandon both offices.

Some of our distillers returned their establishments, but the large majority
refused to do so, hoping that by a united opposition they could soon force the
government to abandon the execution of the law. Still others abandoned the
liquor business as manufacturers entirely. On August 21, 1792, a meeting
was held at Pittsburgh, which was attended by prominent men from all of the
four counties. They drafted resolutions urging the people to obstruct the exe-
cution of the iniquitous law in every legal way possible, and to petition Con-
gress to repeal it at once. On September 15th, 1792, President Washington,
in a very dignified but firm published address, admonished all good citizens to
refrain from unlawful combinations and from doing anything looking toward
the obstruction of the law. The time for returning stills was in June of each

198 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

year, and the difficulty with the government was to get offices in the var-
ious counties in the district. On June ist, notices appeared in the Pittsburgh
Gazette, giving the location of the various offices. Philip Reagan's house was
designated as the place where the office would be opened for Westmoreland
county.

The Secretary of the Treasury at that time was Alexander Hamilton. He
made a complete report of the entire trouble, and this report has been the ground
work of nearly all that has been written about the subject since. In it he notes
the great difficulty the officers found in procuring an office in Westmoreland
county. Wells was still the officer for oair county, and held to his position with
z zeal that might be expected from a better man. He was insulted and abused
both at home and abroad, and his family was ostracised, and even threatened
with violence, when he was not at home. His house was attacked in April,
1792, by a large party of men in disguise. It is likely they thought he was at
home, for on finding him absent they left without doing much mischief. On
November 22 a similarly attired band found him at home, compelled him to
surrender his books and commission, and to sign and publish his resignation in
the papers within two weeks, or have his house burned on his failure to do so.
This he promised to do, and the disguised band left without committing further
depredations. The reader has doubtless noticed that the entire community
seemed to be personally interested in overthrowing the law. There were, of
course, many distillers in comparison to the whole number of inhabitants, but
these could not have held up as they did had they been unaided. The secjuel
to the popular uprising, lies in the fact that nearly every man in the community
was engaged in producing rye, and therefore the law came home to each and
every one of them.

Finally, in June, 1794, John Wells, a son of the collector, was made deputy
for Westmoreland county, and actually opened an office in the private residence
of Philip Reagan, on the Big Sewickley, and not far from his father's house
near Connellsville. Both Wells and Reagan had charge of the office. The
likelihood is that Reagan knew the sentiments of the community, and w^as to
stand guard over the office. At all events, he at once converted the house into
an old-fashioned blockhouse, with portholes, and barred doors and windows.
They also employed a few men to. assist them in defense, though these were hard
to procure, for the sentiment among the good and bad people of the community
was decidedly on the other side. The warm nights of June had scarcely ar-
rived till the new blockhouse was put to a test. It stood several nightly at-
tacks, and each night the attacking party grew more foTmidable. Finally, a
large band of armed citizens gathered round it and began firing. The fire was
returned by Reagan and his' forces, and this was kept up for several hours.
Fortunately no one was hurt on either side, and the crowd repaired to Reagan's
barn, which they burnt to the ground, and then repaired to their homes.

In two or three days the whole community was tho.roughly aroused, and a

HISTORY OP IVESTMORBLAXD COUXTV. 199

small army almost, numbering- not less than two hnndred and fifty, went to
renew the attack. Reagan, under a sort of an armistice, held a conference with
their leaders. Knowing that they would soon overpower his small party, he
])roposed to surrender if they would grant him honorable terms, and also as-
sure him that his property and person should not be destroyed or injured. In
return for this he was to give up his commission, and forever wash his hands
of excise tax in the future. These arrangements were put in writing, each
party taking a copy. Then Reagan came out, and brought with him a keg of
whisky. Upon the whole, it was too much of a victory to pass over without
properly celebrating it. and a great many of the victors became intoxicated.
Later in the celebration it was proposed that Reagan was escaping too easily,
and that he should be set up as a mark to be shot at. Others, who were op-
posed to this, were bent on giving him a good coat of tar and feathers, for they
had brought an abundant supply of these materials with them. Others, who
were more honorable, said that he should go unmolested as was stipulated in
the agreement when he surrendered. This controversy was finally settled by
agreeing that the party should go and capture Wells, and that he and Reagai-
should then both be tried by a court martial and tried together. So they set out
for his residence to capture Wells, but fortunately he was not at home. This
enraged them still further, and they burned his house to ashes, with all its con •
tents. They also posted a few of their party in ambush to capture him on hir
return. But during all this, Reagan escaped, and the mob having recovered
from the effects of too much whisky, let Wells go.

Shortly after this tearing up of the Westmoreland office about one hun-
dred and fifty men from our county, emboldened by this success, went to
Somerset county and attacked Captain Webster. They destroyed his com-
mission, and made him promise never to act as collector of excise tax again.
They made him accompany them part of the way home, and also mount a
stump and give three cheers for "Tom the Tinker," that being the popular
'.ame of the day used to personate the opponents of the law. It probably
originated with a distiller who would not join the opponents of the law, and
had his still cut into pieces by the mob. This they called, mending, that is,
"tinkering" the still. So many anonymous letters from the outlaws were
signed "Tom the Tinker."

It is difficult now to appreciate the extent of this uprising, or the rapidity
of its growth. Reason was thrown to the winds. Many ministers took
the side of the people, though they did not encourage mob violence. No
minister could have retained his pulpit had he sustained the excise law. The
lawyer was popular if he defended the rabble, and not otherwise. No man's
jiroperty was safe if his neighbors even suspicioned that he was against them.
In their general opposition they w^ere led by the best mdn in the community,
who, however, never sanctioned mob violence. Findley, Smiley, Bracken-
ridge, Cook, Young, Ross, Bradford, Holcroft and others were all in sympathy

200 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUXTY.

with any legitimate methods of opposing the execution of the law. They prob-
ably laughed at head-shaving, and were not entirely cast down when the
exciseman was clothed in a coat of tar and feathers.

In 1794 the law was modified by Congress, but nothing short of a general
repeal would satisfy the people. Some of the outlaws were indicted before
the courts, but able lawyers defended them, and no jury could be found to
all agree to convict them, no matter what the evidence might be. A number
of distillers who had not complied with the law were finally summoned to
be tried in the United States courts at Philadelphia. General Neville and the
marshal of the district went to serve a summons on a distiller named Miller.
A furious outbreak followed, which was due more to Neville's presence than
to the serving of the summons, for others had been served before this. ■Men
came from the surrounding harvest fields and chased them out of the country.
The same day a military meeting was being held at ]Mingo Creek, in Wash-
ington county, to draft men for service against the Indians. The report of
chasing the marshal and Neville soon reached this meeting, seven miles
away, and a mob at once took across the country for the marshal's house.
When they arrived they demanded a surrender of his commission, his papers,
etc., which was refused. A general battle began at once. The inmates
of the house were better armed and better protected than the attacking party.
Six of the mob were wounded, and one man was shot dead. On this the
besiegers retired, but only to better prepare for another attack. A meeting
was called, and all good citizens were warned to "strike for freedom," or be
"forever enslaved," etc. In response a large meeting was held at Mingo
Creek meeting-house, the purpose of which was to avenge the outrages of
the previous day. They appointed three men as their leaders, and IMajor
McFarlane, an old and experienced Revolutionary, officer, was elected com-
mander of the forces. In the meantime United States soldiers were collected
by the marshal to guard General Neville's house. The mob marched at
once to his house and demanded his papers and commission. This, of course,
was refused. Then the women were allowed to pass from the house unmo-
lested, and the battle began. The regular soldiers defending the house were
in command of Major Kirkpatrick. It is hardly fair to say that McFarlane
commanded the insurgents, for they very soon reached that degree of ex-
citement that the commander was impotent. Early in the fight, Major Mc-
Farlane stepped from behind a large tree to confer with Major Kirkpatrick.
As he did so he was shot, and died immediately. The death of their leader
only added fuel to the fire. The barn and out-houses, with all their harvested
crops, were at once set on fire, and Kirkpatrick and his soldiers were allowed
to retire.

^^'llcn this became more generally known, lawlessness became the rule,
even in our own county. The United States mail carrier was waylaid within
a mile of Grecnsburg by two men, who perhaps had no other motive in view

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAXD COUNTY. 201

Ihan to show their contempt for the authority of the government of the
United States. They broke open the mail bags and rifled their contents, not
for financial gain, but to show that the people, and not the government,
lield complete sway. After this trouble at Neville's, and the Greensburg mail
robberv, a public meeting was called for by David Bradford, of Washing-
ton, who claimed to be a leader of the uniteil forces of the four counties.
This meeting was held at Braddock's Fields, the location of which is well
known. The call was that all should come armed, and provided with four
davs' rations. About sixteen thousand citizens actually came together on
the day appointed, though thousands came through curiosity, and with neither
arms nor rations. David Bradford was chosen commander-in-chief of the
forces, and Edward Cook was his chief lieutenant. Bradford's idea was
to besiege the town" of Pittsburgh and burn the houses of the leading citi-
zens interested in sustaining the law, such as Neville, Gibson, Brison, Kirk-
patrick, etc.

Hugh Henry Brackenridge was then the most gifted and eloquent lawyer
in Western Pennsylvania. He had defended free of charge many of the
ringleaders of this insurrection who had been indicted heretofore, and was
thoroughly trusted by all of them. When he and his friends saw that no
power would prevent them from marching to Pittsburgh, they tried to induce
them to go in a peaceable and orderly manner. ''Let us go there to show them
that we are not a mob, as they believe us to be, but that we are law-abiding
citizens who are only asserting our rights." etc. '"Let us march through the
town, turn around and come out again, and encamp on the banks of the river
in peace, then we will have won the people of Pittsburgh to our side."
Cook advocated the same behavior on their visit, and the mob could not
well turn a deaf ear to the advice of either of them, particularly to the ad-
vice of Brackenridge. The inhabitants of Pittsburgh were greatly alarmed,
but their fears were allayed on the arrival of the army, for they had, indeed,
very largely been governed by Brackenridge's advice. Had they attempted
to burn the buildings marked by Bradford for destruction,- the citizens of
Pittsburgh would have fired on them, and undoubtedly a general conflagra-
tion and slaughter would have ensued. As it was, there was little harm done.
Some one in the night set fire to Kirkpatrick's barn, and we believe this
was the only damage done the town. In a day or so the greater part of the
army was disbanded, or disbanded itself, and peace and quiet again reigned
in the four counties.

About this time the more conservative citizens of the four counties began
to see the inevitable result of this opposition, if not in some way gotten under
control. A meeting was therefore called for at Parkinson's Ferry on August
14th, 1794. This was attended by two hundred and sixty delegates from the
four western counties. Edward Cook was made chairman of the meeting,
and Albert Gallatin secretary. They, as usual, protested in a series of reso-

202 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

lutions against the excise law and against taking offenders to Philadelphia,
three hundred miles away, for trial, etc. The meeting was the most con-
servative held yet in the' district. There were some very eloquent addresses
made by such men as Gallatin, Brackenridge, Rev. Edgar and others, and
a slow proceedure by purely legal methods was the trend of their remarks.
It is now generally supposed that these men and many of the delegates were
there for the purpose of manipulating the convention, and to thus gain, by
clever management and wholesome advice, what could not be gained by
open opposition to the rabble. The whole force of the insurrection was
here represented by two hundred and sixty delegates, and by the manage-
ment of Brackenridge and his friends their power was delegated to one
representative from each township, which reduced them to sixty delegates.
Then these sixty delegates appointed a committee of twelve who would
thereafter represent them and serve as a standing committee in the future.
The newly constituted committee could therefore bind the four counties,
and could be much more readily handled by the conservative leaders than
a larger body could be. It was certainl}' a master stroke on the part of the
managers, and went far towards a re-establishment of order in the excited
community. The committee of sixty met at Redstone on September 2nd, and
the standing committee of twelve was ready at any time to meet a similar
committee appointed by the government or the state.

About this time Governor Mifflin, of Pennsylvania, appointed Justice Mc-
Kean and General William Irvine to investigate matters in the four counties,
and to report the situation as soon as possible. He also ordered that the
Pennsylvania troops be equipped for service at once, and issued a call for
an extra session of the General Assembly. The capital of the United States
was then in Philadelphia, and President Washington was not slow to act
in a matter of this magnitude. On August 7th he issued a proclamation
commanding all insurgents to lay down their arms before September ist,
or abide the consequences. He also began to raise an army, and in a few
days had 12,950 men ready to march at a moment's notice. They were
largely from the drilled soldiers of the Revolution, and were recruited from
Eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland and Virginia. The President
appointed James Ross, Jasper Yates and William Bradford to represent the
government and to confer with a like delegation, should one be appointed,
representing the insurgents. Governor Lee, of Virginia, commanded the
troops raised by Washington, and the Governors of the several states com-
manded the troops sent out by them. The President himself, as commander-
in-chief of the army, arranged to accompany the troops, and with him were
General Henry Knox, Secretary Hamilton and Judge Peters, the latter judge
of the United States district court of Pennsylvania. The army set out from
Philadelphia on October ist. and President Washington, leaving a few days
later joined them at Carlisle. There he met \\'illiam Findley, Ejjhraim

HISTORY OF U'ESTMORELAXD COUXTY. 203;

Douglass and Thomas :\Iorton, who were appointed to represent the insur-
gents in a conference with the President. It is probable that Washington
learned for the first time at Carlisle from these three representatives of the
conciliatory movements that were in progress, and of the actions of the
committees referred to above. Washington came on west with the army
as far as Bedford, where he arrived on October 19th. There he remained
for two or three days, and then went back to Philadelphia, reaching that
city on October 28th. It is often claimed that he came on west and was
in Westmoreland county, but the claim is entirely unfounded. From the fact
that he came west at all and then returned without coming near the real
seat of war, it is supposed that he learned on the way that the backbone of
the insurrection was broken by the conciliatory meeting, and the uprising
of the loyal and conservative citizens. It will be remembered that news
did not travel rapidly at that time.

The United States commissioners and those appointed by the state and
also those on the part of the insurgents appointed by the Parkinson Ferry
meeting, all met in Pittsburgh on August 20. The commissioners had no
power to compromise, and refused to make any recommendations for the
postponement of the trials of those who had been summoned east, or for par-
dons for those who had committed crimes, until they had been fully assured
of a sincere determination on the part of the people that thev would there-
after obey and assist in the execution of the laws. The committee on the
part of the people presented their grievances as to the injustice of the
excise .law, and also the new grievance, viz.: the injustice of being taken
three hundred miles away from home for trial in a strange land and by a
strange jury. They were in session about a week, and then adjourned to
Brownsville, where they met on August 28. There they held a two days'
session. Brackenridge and Gallatin both talked long and with more even
than their usual eloquence in favor of law and order, and in favor of a com-
plete submission of the people to the provisions of the excise tax law^. Brad-
ford spoke in favor of forcible resistance, but he failed to carry the com-
mittee with him. They were afraid to vote openly lest they be ill-treated
by their neighbors, who were still in favor of resistance. So each delegate
was provided with a piece of paper on which was written the two words,
"yea" and "nay." They tore ofT the one word and destroyed it, -while they
voted the other, thus securing an absolutely secret ballot. The result of all
this was a final decision to submit the matter to the people. They were to
have an opportunity to sign a paper pledging loyalty to the government and
its laws, and for that purpose the polls were to be open on September nth,
which was the last day given for them to submit. But many of the remote
sections did not learn of this decision, and therefore thousands did not turn
out at all. It was no small matter, it must be remembered, to circulate this
decision over our four large counties in that day of slow travel. In some-

^04 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

places a lawless element prevailed, and the polls were broken up. Many,
Jiowever, refused to sign this pledge of allegiance. Bradford came over and
signed, and urged the people to do the same. Nevertheless, from all these
circumstances, the signatures were very few compared with the population,
or with the number of men in revolt. The commissioners had gone east,
.all except James Ross, who remained here to carry the report back to Wash-
ington, at Philadelphia, 'ihe result did not by any means satisfy the Presi-
dent, and he determined at once to send the army to the west.

Then the sixty township delegates met on October 2nd and drafted reso-
lutions explanatory of the meager number of signatures to the allegiance
papers. The burden of their explanations was that it was owing to want of
time, and in proof of the general feeling in the community, they, the repre-
sentatives of the district, resolved to submit, and so severally pledged them-
selves.- They appointed Findley and David Reddick, the latter from Wash-
ington county, to wait on the President and the Governor. They met Wash-
ington at Carlisle on October 10, as has been above stated, and wi:h them
were delegates Douglass and IMorton, who. with Findley, composed the other
■delegation. Their purpose in presenting the matter to the President was
with the hope that after learning the true situation here — that is. after being
made familiar with the real change of sentiment — he would not permit the
army to march further west. They tried, therefore, to prove the genuine-
ness of the change of sentiment, and to show that the meagerly signed al-
legiance papers did not fairly represent the situation. President Washington
heard them patiently, but declined to stop the progress of the army, inasmuch
as it was then nearing the seat of war. He assured them that there would
be no violence done by the soldiers, and that all that was necessary on the
part of the people was to show a genuine evidence of their return t^ their
former allegiance to the United States government and its laws. A rapid
change was taking place all over the survey, but particularly here in We;t-
moreland. Shortly before this a man's property and person were not safe
if he was even suspicioned by the Greensburg people. To illustrate : Colonel
Gibson came to Greensburg, and, having been guilty of no oiTense except that
he tried to have the people remain loyal to the law, he should have been
safe anywhere. Yet his arrival was scarcely known until he was waited
■on by a body of men who ordered him to quit the towai within half an hour.
He was concealed in the house of General William Jack. Yet in October our
people had so far backed down that they were almost falling over each other in
-irder to sign the allegiance papers.

When Findley and Reddick came back to Westmoreland from their visit
to President Washington, they called a meeting of the committee for Oc-
tober 24th to report the result of their mission. Many citizens' meetings were
held in all parts of the four counties, so that the delegates who were to meet
•on the 24th could know for a certainty that there was a change of sentiment

HISTORY OF U'ESTMORELAXD COUXTY. 205,

generally, and could act accordingly. They also wanted these expressions-
made public before the army should reach here. One of these meetings was
held in Greensburg on October 22d. They drafted resolutions and in no un-
certain sound set forth their disposition to sustain the law. David Marchand,.
afterwards a member of Congress, was president of the meeting. The resolu-
tions adopted here were as follows :

1. Resolved, As the sense of this meeting, that it is the duty of every good citizen
to yield obedience to the existing laws of his country.

2. That we discountenance all illegal acts of violence from whatever motive, and
that for redress of grievances the privilege and right of the citizen is to petition and remon-
strate if necessary.

3. That we will support the civil authority and all officers in the lawful exercise
of their respective duties, and assist in securing for legal trial all offenders against,
the laws when called upon.

4. That the citizens of this town and township will give no opposition to the open-
ing of an office of inspection therein, should the same be contemplated by the govern-
ment, and that we will use our endeavors to remove improper prejudices, and recom-
mend a peaceable and general submission.

5. That a copy of the preceding resolutions be given to one or more of the deputies
of the town or township who are to meet at Parkinson's Ferry on Friday the 24th inst.,.
together with a copy of the assurance paper, signed by the citizens of this meeting, in
order that the same may be laid before the members of the said committee, and that another
copy may be made out for publication in the Pittsburgh Gazette, and that the same be
attested by the chairman and clerk of the meeting.

Four hundred and twenty citizens of Greensburg and vicinity signed these-
resolutions. Similar resolutions were adopted in all parts of the four counties
and, as may be supposed, when the convention inet all was harmony. The-
same committee was appointed to carry this general expression of sentiment
to President Washington. They started at once for Bedford, but, learning-
that Washington had left there for Philadelphia, they went to Uniontown
to confer with General Lee, whose advance forces had reached there. Lee
was a brave officer of the Revolution, and a most refined and cultured gen-
tlenian. He treated the committee with great courtesy, and assured them that
the soldiers would respect the rights and propertv of the citizens, and asked
them to pass that word over the four counties as rapidly as possible. All
the General required was allegiance to the law. He asked of the people that
they be only as active in restoring law and order as they had formerly been
in raising a disturbance. The report of this conference with General Lee was
printed and rapidly circulated throughout the four counties, and greatly
allayed the fears of the people, who had great fear of the approaching army,
for they rei-nembered too well, and to their sorrow, the visits of the British
army a few years before this. Books were now opened at nearly all of the
offices of the justices of the peace, so that the people might take the oath of

^o6 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUXTV.

allegiance. A day was fixed for the entry of stills, and, almost without an
exception, the distillers reported them as required by law. It indeed seemed
.that the people were, as General Lee requested, as anxious to sustain the
law as they had formerly been to oppose it.

The army came on west, most of them marching as far as Pittsburgh.
But all was quiet, and thousands were daily taking the oath of allegiance.
So, on November 17th, orders were given for the return of the troops. In
.a few days all were gone except a small battalion under General Morgan,
which it was thought best to have remain all winter in the vicinity of Pitts-
burgh. One company was stationed at Greensburg and one at Uniontown.

While the army was passing through here it became its dutv to hunt up
and arrest men who had been most active in raising this disturbance, as well
as distillers who had failed to make their reports as required by law. ;\Iost
■of those who were arrested were guilty, but Judge Peters, perhaps in every
case where he could do so without stultifying himself, ruled that they were
not guilty of any oflfense against the government. Some who had been ar-
rested were released after a hearing, and others were sent to Pittsburgh.
While confined there, some were released, because they had influential friends,
it is said, while others, no more guilty than they, were sent to Philadelphia
for trial. There they were confined nearly a year before they were tried.
This was a great injustice to them, and particularly does the injustice appear
when it is learned that nearly all were eventually acquitted. Two were
convicted from Westmoreland county. Probably by even a fair construction
of the law all might have been found guilty of treason, for they had levied
war against the United States', had incited and engaged in rebellion and in-
surrection.' John JNIitchell was the leader of those who robbed the mail
near Greensburg. He was convicted and sentenced to be hanged, but was
afterwards pardoned by the President. The other conviction was for arson,
he being the one who had set fire to Wells' house. After being sentenced
to be hanged it was learned that he was a very ignorant man, and was sub-
ject to epileptic fits. Washington first reprieved and then pardoned him.
The march of the army eastward may be fraught with interest to those
who are accustomed to the rapid mobilization of soldiers in our present day.
The first day's march was to Hellman's, fifteen miles east of Pittsburgh; the
second day's march was to a point near Greensburg, marching fourteen
miles that day ; the third day they marched to the Nine Mill Run near
Youngstown, eleven miles ; the fourth day they camped two miles east of
Fort Ligonier, eleven miles ; the fifth day they crossed Laurel Hill, and en-
camped at the foot of its eastern slope, nine miles. The sixth day's march
they reached Stony Creek, where Stonystown now stands, or a mile beyond,
making eleven miles. On the seventh and eighth days they marched respect-
ively eleven and twenty-four miles, and reached Bedford. From Bedford they
marched to Carlisle, a distance of ninetv-five miles.

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUXTV. 207

David Bradford was die leading spirit of the Whisky Insurrection. He
was a citizen of Washington county, and was a prominent lawyer, practicing
both there and in Westmoreland. He was a very unsafe man to follow, but
had great powers as an agitator. When the government issued a general
amnesty proclamation it included all citizens engaged in the insurrection ex-
cept Bradford. He had fled to Louisiana, then a Spanish possession, and
become an extensive planter. He was always respectably connected, being
during the insurrection a brother-in-law of Judge Allison, the grandfather
of John Allison, late register of the treasury of the United States. His
granddaughter was married to Richard Broadhead, United States senator
from Pennsylvania, from 185 1 to 1857. His son was married to a sister of
Jefferson Davis, late President of the Southern Confederacy. In Louisiana
he became wealthy, and as a planter attained a fairly high social position.
He died there in i8og.

James McFarlane had been a soldier and officer of undaunted courage
in the Revolution. He was born in 175 1, and was therefore but forty-three
years old when he was killed near General Neville's house, on July 17th.
On his tombstone are engraved these words among others : "He defended
American Independence against the lawless and despotic encroachments of
Great Britain. He fell at last by the hands of an unprincipled villain in
the support of what he supposed to be the rights of his countrv. much la-
mented by a numerous and respectable circle of acc[uaintances."

General John Neville was born in Virginia in 1731, and was one of the
few brave officers of the Virginia troops who escaped death at Braddock's
defeat. Afterwards he was colonel of the Fourth Virginia Regiment in the
Revolution, and was in the battles of Trenton, Princeton. Germantown and
]\Ionmouth. After the Revolution he moved to Pennsylvania, and was a
member of the supreme executive council. President Washington appointed
him inspector of revenue for the counties of Western Pennsylvania, and
this was why his residence, etc., were burned on July 17, 1794, as has been
told above. He died near Pittsburgh, July 29, 1803.

William Findley was by far the most looted man connected with the
^^■hisky Insurrection, but as he represented Westmoreland in Congress for
nearly a quarter of a century we shall refer to him at length among special
biographies of distin,guished men of Westmoreland county.

The Whisky Insurrection is an important event in our history and one that
has been much written of. It was the first attempt on the part of the people to
disobey or overthrow the national authority. It came when the new govern-
ment was in its infancy. It is well for us that Washington was then president
of the United States, and that he met the opposition with that strength and
dignity which characterized his every act. Those who would know more of
the insurrection will be abundantly repaid by reading "The Lattimers," a novel
of great strength founded entirely on the \Miiskv Insurrection.

CHAPTKR XV

Old Customs. — Crops. — Industries. — Clothes. — Wild Animals, etc.

Westmoreland's early settlers were nearly all young men. Rarely ever
were they beyond middle age. The old people were left behind in the east.
Often a young man came across the mountains unmarried, and here located a
tract of land, cleared a part of it, and sometiines built a house the first year. Late
in the fall or winter he returned to his former home to get married. Then the
two set out for their new home. He usually had a horse, not likely a thorough-
bred, but an animal upon which the young wife rode, and on which was also
carried a few indispensable household goods which could not be purchased here.
Sometimes the well-to-do pioneer had two horses. If so, on one was a pack-
saddle on which could be carried about three hundred and fifty pounds of
household utensils. In any event they brought a skillet, a pot, perhaps a few
dishes, an ax and mattock, for clearing land. There was generally some bed-
ding material, though this was often entirely of skins of animals killed on the
way or after their arrival. They also brought garden seeds, and a few driea
herbs to last them until new ones could be raised.

Seed corn and seed grain generally was kept at the garrison, and thither
went the farmer who was in need when planting time came. They also brought
seeds from favorite apple and peach trees. The settler himself usually walked
all the way, and carried a rifle on his shoulder, for a rifle he must have. Then
if +hey had with them a few pounds of hard baked bread, and if he was fortunate
enough to shoot a deer, ?. turkey or smaller game, they were all right for a
week's journey or more through the wilderness. In novels one often reads of a
bed in the wilderness, made of small branches of trees, and this is exactly what
was done. There were often days of travel without the sign of a human habita-
tion. If the travelers were near a settler's house, be it ever so humble and
crowded, they were alwa^'s welcome. This long journey was almost always
made in the springtime, when sleeping outside was not dangerous nor incon-
venient. They were nearly always going to a settlement where they were
looked for and welcomed by old acquaintances or relatives. The journey had
in it much to look forward to with pleasure. Seldom did a family locate

HISiORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 209

in a new country alone. In case the community into which they
were moving was entirely new, they formed a company among- neigh-
bors in the east who journeyed and located together. These companies
were called colonies, and often had among- them entire families. As has been
observed before, the first log huts or cabins were built near the forts ; then they
spread out along the military roads, and finally the entire community was set-
tled. Nearly all the forts in our county were garrisoned by the government
of the state, and in these the settler and his wife or family were made welcome
until the log house was ready for occupancy. Their residence in the fort was
therefore not limited to times of danger.

We had few Daniel Boones in our early pioneer days — men who isolated
themselves entirely from companionship, and lived alone in the wilderness.
Our people were home-makers, and after the acquisition of land, what they
most desired w-as neighbors. They did not come here to hunt and fish, nor to
buy furs and skins from the Indians. Generally they left better homes in the
east, but were willing to endure all manner of hardships for a few years, with
the hope of abundance later on. They very soon learned to love their new
homes, and to fight for and defend them as though they were palaces. How-
ever rough the land, however small the clearing, or however rude his mud-
plastered log cabin, i.t was his own, and that consolation compensated him for
all its imperfections. Because he owned it himself he was willing to defend it
against all the world, if necessary. "To be a land owner," said James G.
Blaine in his eulogy on President Garfield, "has been a patent and passport of
self-respect with the Anglo-Saxon race, ever since Horsa and Hengist landed on
the shores of England." For many years, as we have seen, he worked with his
gun near him, and in company with his neighbors. In house building he was
compelled to have neighbors, or at least some assistance, in putting the logs in
place. He could cut down and hew the timber, and perhaps a neighbor could
help him drag the hewn logs to the place selected for the house. Then came
the "raising," which was the big day of our pioneer ancestry. The whole com-
munity assembled and put up the skeleton of a house in a single day. Some-
times they cut and hewed the logs, and put up the house between "sun up and
sun down." A house fifteen by thirty feet, two rooms below and one or two
above, was a good sized house for that period. The axe was the principal tool
used in house building. On the day of the raising the older citizens had each
a "dram" before they began work, for whisky was supposed to be indispensable
in every well regulated community. There was also a big dinner, which was
prepared by the women of the community, and thus both old and young were
brought together at the raising, and all had a part to perform. The young
man could show his strength lifting logs to their places. And not by any
means the least attractive feature of the occasion, were the young maidens who
attended to prepare the noon dinner. The young men were rough and un-
polished, half hunter, half farmer, but nevertheless they greatly attracted our

210 HISTORY OF W EST M OREL AN-D COUNTY.

grand dames. The raising was governed by rules which greatly facilitated the
work. The men were divided into two equal parties, and after the military
order of the day, each side chose a captain. The logs were pushed up long
slides at each side and at the ends, and the party which could the most rapidly
put its logs in place were the victors. When it was at its place, it was notched
at the ends to fit on the log underneath it, and thus be firmly held in place.
The man who notched the ends of the logs was called the "corner man," and
there were four of these, that is, one for each corner. A sharp axe, a true eye
and a strong arm were the necessary requisites of a good "corner man." Had
he these qualifications he could very quickly notch the log to fit on the log be-
low, and cut its upper side to fit the triangular notch of the next log. He must
also keep his corner plumb. While he was doing this, those on the ground were
moving the next log up the slides to its final position. A good "corner man"
must have the last log finished by the time the next arrived, so as not to keep
the men waiting. But if he did keep them waiting sometimes in the morning,
when the logs did not have to be raised very high, later in the day he could
often indulge in the sarcasm of calling for logs, for each succeeding log had
to be raised one log higher. The average log when green, if twenty feet long,
would weigh not less than fifteen hundred pounds, and it was not an easy
matter to hoist it fifteen or twenty feet with their limited appliances.

The average house of say twenty by thirty feet was nine or ten feet to the
top of the first story, and the second story was not generally more than four or
four and one-half feet to the eaves of the roof. Sometimes when the house
was more pretentious, the second was a full story of eight or nine feet. The
house was generally built of logs of equal length, making no provision for door
or windows. The logs were afterwards sawed away for such openings. That
this was done can be noticed even to this day in our old log houses. Some-
times there was a chimney in the center, with a fireplace on each side, but not
often. It was oftener at one side or end of the house, and frequently on the
outside, in which case there was an opening through the logs for the fire place
In most houses the chimney was made of stones and mortar. A few houses
had chimneys made of small pieces of wood, which, when laid in thick mortar
which was made to thoroughly cover the inside, were fairly well prot<'cted from
the sparks of the fire. The earliest houses had no glass windows. Light was
admitted through greased paper, and the light at best was very poor. There
was no glass manufactured in America then, and it was a luxury only inilulged
in by the very wealthy.

At the top of the first story were logs called joists, which were hewn on one
side only. They were usually made from small saplings, say eight or ten
inches in diameter. On tlie top came the rafters, made after the manner of the
joists, but not so heavy. The roof was made of clapboards — that is, boardlike
pieces split from straight-grained trees. They were nmch larger and thicker
than split shingles. Sometimes they were smoothed off with a drawing-knife.

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 211

From these were also made the rough floor of the second story, if there was a
second story at all, for some of the houses were but one story high. The floor
of the first story in the most primitive houses was made of clay. Next to clay
in advancement was the puncheon floor, which was made of logs split in the
center and the flat side turned up. These flat surfaces, with a little dressing,
made a comparatively level floor. The fireplace was a great wide opening, so
that a log even six feet long could be rolled into it as a back log, and this helped
to throw out heat. Over this great fireplace was hung the rifle, bullet-pouch
and powder horn. Sometimes the antlers of a deer hung above the fireplace,
and from this were suspended the implements of the hunter. The door was
hung on wooden hinges. The door latch was a short bar of wood on the inside,
and from it upward and through a hole in the door passed the latch-string, so
that it could be opened from the outside if the string was out. But when night
came, the latch-string could be drawn in, a simple way of locking the door.

The house was made comparatively wami by filling up the cracks with
small pieces of wood, and covering them with mortar. It was also a dry house
after the floor was put in, but these were almost its only merits. The houses
burnt in Hannastown were the best in the county in 1782, yet none of them were
better than the description above, and some of them were smaller. The houses
in Pittsburgh before the Revolution were not equal to this. In 1774 there was
but one house in Pittsburgh with a shingle roof, and it was pointed out as a
marvel in wooden improvement, and as an evidence of the enterprise of the
city.

Dr. McMillen, who came to Westmoreland county to preach in 1788, says:
"The cabin in which I was to live was raised, but there was no roof to it, nor
any chimney or floor. We had neither bedstead, nor table, nor stool, nor
chair, nor bucket. We placed two boxes, one on the other, which served us
for a table, and two kegs served us for seats, and having committed ourselves
to God in family worship we spread our bed on the floor and slept soundly
till morning. Sometimes, indeed, we had no. bread for weeks together, but
we had plenty of pumpkins and potatoes, and all the necessaries of life ; as for
luxuries, we were not much concerned about them."

Dr.' Power, who also preached here during the Revolution, says that for
years after he came there was not a frame, stone or brick house within the
limits of his congregation, and his charge included the most advanced parts
of our present county. Stone houses were not built till the latter part of the
century, and even then only when building stones could be readily procured.
The furniture within the house was, as Dr. McMillen has indicated, nearly all
home-made, and generally without sawed lumber.

Our day laborers now would not live in such houses, even though they
were rent free, yet these were the houses and castles of our ancestors, who
were not inferior to us in physical or moral qualifications, nor were they by
nature intellectually inferior to us. If any reader who prides himself on being

212 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

descended from one of Westmoreland's old families will go back far enough
he will find his ancestor living in just such a house as is described, and likely
in one not quite so complete. Nor will he be ashamed of it, if he is a truly
worthy and loyal son of his pioneer ancestry. The greatest and most distin-
guished man of the last century, Abraham Lincoln, was born in a one-storied
log cabin in Kentucky. Daniel Webster, in a political address made during the
"Log Cabin" campaign of 1840 at Saratoga, New York, said : "It did not
happen to me to be born in a log cabin, but my elder brothers and sisters were
born in a log cabin, raised amid the snowdrifts of New Hampshire, at a period
so. early that when the smoke first rose from its rude chimney and curled over
the frozen hills, there was no similar evidence of a white man's habitation be-
tween it and the settlements on the rivers of Canada. Its remains still exist.
I make to it an annual visit. I carry my children to it, to teach them the hard-
ships endured by the generations which have gone before them."

JNIany of our early houses had but one room, and sometimes these had a
second story, called a loft, which was reached by a ladder, or by pins driven
into the logs. On the rafters were hung pieces of smoked meat, all kinds of
herbs for medicines, and clothes not in use.

Stables were built like houses, but of smaller logs, and they were very
rarely hewn logs. They were built of smaller logs to protect the stock from
wild animals, such as bears and wolves, which roamed the country at will, and
were very destructive. The stables were not much of a protection against the
blasts of winter, for the cracks between the logs were very rarely closed.

When the early settler began to erect a building he always located it near a
never failing spring, and thus generally on the lower ground. In felling trees
for his house and stable he was clearing his land, and thus his first fields were
near his house. Then he cut down others, rolled them together and burnt
them. Other trees were deadened, and among these he raised grain. One
man in a few days, could deaden the trees on a piece of land that would make
a good sized field. In a few years the storms uprooted the deadened trees, and
the huge boles by that time were very dry. So if three or four were rolled
together, making a "log heap," they could be reduced to ashes in a few hours.
In this way the primeval woods were cut away. Very little of the timber was
utilized.

The next duty was to fence a few of his fields, that is, such as he intended
to farm regularly. Cattle and horses were allowed to wander at large, brows-
ing in the woodland. Bells were hung on the necks of animals, so that they
could be found when needed, and that the farmer might know from the sound
of the bell when they were encroaching upon his fields. Bells were almost in-
dispensable in the new unfenced country, yet they sometimes wrought great
harm. Often the Indians removed the bells from the animals, and, hiding be-
hind bushes or in dark ravines, induced children thither whom they captured,
the children thinking they were approaching the cows or horses for which they
were searching. The bells on animals were also a protection against wild

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 213

beasts ; rarely ever, it is said, would a wolf or a bear attack an animal which
wore a bell.

Corn, rye and potatoes were the principal products of the early farmers.
They were very anxious to raise wheat, but had poor success in its culture,
even in our present wheat growing communities. They believed that wheat
and rye could be raised only on high ground, and for that reason settled the
highlands first. The more level tracts and rich river or creek bottoms which
now constitute our most productive farming communities, were considered too
damp for wheat or rye to live in over winter. Furthermore, the rich bottom
land was very wild, and had to be reclaimed by more farming than the higher
ground. Corn was largely used for bread, and by hunters and travelers in
the form of "Johnny cake," which was originally called "journey cake." The
average garden was a very small affair. • They raised there the sage from the
leaves of which they made a tea. used as a substitute for the tea of commerce ;
to the real tea our ancestors were always hostile after the tax was put on it.
When Arthur St. Clair first moved his family to Ligonier valley, Mrs. St.
Clair brought with her a chest of real tea. Many of her new neighbors had
heard of it before, but had never seen or tasted it. They came from near and
from far to attend her "tea parties." They enjoyed it so much that it was
but a short time till it was all used up. CofTee was not known to our early set-
tlers, but by the time of the Revolution it was used for special occasions. The
root-bark of the sassafras tree, roasted chestnuts and rye were all used in the
place of coffee. From necessitv our ancestors in that age were clothed almost
entirely in home-made garments of linen or wool, or a mixture of the two
called "linsey-woolsey." or of deer skins.

Flax culture is so far removed from our generation that perhaps a few
words concerning it may not be out of place here, for it was undoubtedly the
mainstay among our early pioneers. Flax culture is one of the oldest of human
industries. Dr. Heer, the great German botanist, has proved pretty thoroughly
that it was cultivated before history was written among the prehistoric races
of Europe. After many years of research he asserts that it was cultivated in
Egypt five thousand years ago. Its use in the formation of textile fabrics is
much older than the use of wool, notwithstanding the fact that sheep are among
the oldest of domestic animals.

It is a fibrous plant, from the bark of which all linen is made. It will
grow readily on any soil, but best on moist channery ground. The seed is a
small brown grain, and from it is manufactured all pure linseed oil. The seea
being small, a gallon would sow about two acres of ground. It grew about
two and one-half feet high, and bore a very pretty blue blossom, a field of
which was most attractive to the eye. When ripe it was pulled up by the
roots and dried on the ground. The seeds were removed by threshing with a
flail. The stem itself was very brittle when dried, and the bark was very
tough, so, when "broken" on a crude machine called a break, the bark remained
whole, while the brittle stems were reduced to small pieces, and they were easily

214

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

separated from the fiber. The finer part of the fiber or bark could be spun
into linen, and the coarser part was made into a cloth called tow. This separa-
tion was done by drawing it lengthwise over a "hackle," which was a board set
with numerous iron spikes projecting about four inches. These caught the
rough material and allowed the finer fibers to be drawn through.

Then the housewife spun it on a spinning wheel propelled by a treadle
tramped by one foot. Spinning wheels can yet be seen in many houses, pre-
served as mementoes of the past age. Spinning with a wheel was a very an-
cient and a very simple art. They spun in the days of Virgil, for he says the
"slender thread of life is drawn out from the spindles of the Fates." They
both spun and wove in Greece, and, still farther back than Homer's age, the
Egyptians were weaving linens, which would be of a high order even in our
own advanced age. Homer compares the life of man to the "swift flying
shuttle of the weaver."

Nor was spinning confined to the pioneer women in the west, but our
grandmothers in the best of families were taught to spin and knit, and many
of them to weave. The mother of General Washington, herself a woman of
high birth and great wealth, could spin, knit and weave, and Martha, the
wife of the General, became famous for her knitting societies in the Revo-
lution. The cloth was woven on looms, wdiich were rather expensive affairs,
and only perhaps one family in a dozen could afford one. The neighbor
who had a loom took in weaving, and retained a part of each web woven
in payment for such services. A fabric made of tow or linen was durable,
but not a warm covering for cold weather. So a mixture of wool and linen
called "linsey-woolsey" was made. Wool could be prepared for home spin-
ning by carding it, which was done by two hand-cards looking not unlike
currycombs for horses. Then it could be spun and woven like linen or tow.
But the early pioneers' great difficulty in producing wool was to protect
the sheep from wolves and bears, which were found in every section of our
county. Foxes, too, were very destructive of young lambs. When the
country grew older these animals were banished, and wool carding by hand
was abandoned, for in many localities there sprang up fulling mills. To
these the farmer sent his wool to have it made ready for home spinning, or he
could have it spun at the factory and woven into such cloth as he stood in
need of. The woolen factories were run by water-power, and the work
they did was not expensive. They also colored the wool and made it into
blankets of red and white, or blue and white, some of which may yet be
seen among the older families of the county. These factories were not built
in Westmoreland county till after 1800, and for twenty-five or thirty years
at least the early pioneer families spun and wove their own cloth almost en-
tirely. In 1807 there were two of these factories in Greensburg, as is noticed
from the Fanners' Register of that year. They colored and carded wool into
rolls so that the pioneer's wife could spin them, and for this they charged

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 215

ten cents per ponnd. Some time before this there was a fulhng mill at
Jones' Mills, and there was also one erected in North Huntingdon township,
on Robinson's creek. Every house in the community had one or more spin-
ning wheels, but there was not one family in ten that had a loom. Through
many a long evening, aided only by the flickering light of a tallow dip, did
the industrious mother nod and bend over the spinning wheel, or grasp the
countless threads with weary fingers and weave them into lasting webs of
cloth for her children.

In the winter men wore caps made from the skins of animals, and
in summer they wore straw hats, but all of home manufacture. Later the
hatters came and made wool felt hats, which never wore out. Men wore
buckskin trousers, and these were worn by men in all ranks of life. They
often wore a hunting shirt, as it was called, though its use was not con-
fined to the chase. This was sometimes made of doeskin, and was very
slow to wear out. The well-to-do men wore shoes with buckles in the sum-
mer, while the poorer class wore moccasins, a soft-soled shoe of home manu-
facture, made of buckskin. Along with shoe buckles and knee breeches went
blue coats and brass buttons. There was much more difference between the
well-to-do and the poor as to dress than there is now.

Women wore short skirts of linsey-woolsey in summer, and of all wool
in the winter. They wore beaver or felt hats upon special occasions, and
their hats did not differ very much from those worn by men. It was then
fashionable to tie a fringed silk handkerchief over the head. Most of the
women before 1800 went barefooted in the summer when about their house
work, and prior to that many of them attended church, the only dress oc-
casion they had, without shoes. In the winter they wore moccasins. It was
at least thirty years after the first settlers came here that silk dresses began
to be worn by women. It is true, as we have said, that a silk dress was taken
from a house in Hannastown by an Indian, but this was remarkable, and
its being silk was perhaps what preserved the incident to us. Calico and
all kindred fabrics were unknown to our ancestors of the Revolutionary
period. Part of the time in the early years of the last century calico sold
here for one dollar per yard, and as late as 1825 it was selling for fifty cents
per yard.

Another crude industry by which they lived was boiling the sap of the
maple or sugar trees, and making syrup and sugar. It was done in a very
primitive manner compared with the same industry of our age, yet the result
was nearly the same. They bored a small hole into the tree and inserted a
hollow reed or stick through which the sap dropped rapidly into a trough
made of the halves of a split log, each about three feet long. These pieces
were hollowed out with an ax, and could be made to hold three or four
gallons. This they boiled in kettles over wood fires. The season for making
it was very short, being confined to the first mild weather of spring time,

2i6 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

and when the farmer had many trees they kept the sap boihng night and day.
The sugar camp was a favorite place for young men and women to meet
at night to make sugar, and keep the fire going and the water boiling after
the older people had gone home, for the boiling was always done in the
midst of the grove of trees. The trees on the eastern slopes of the hills
and in the bottoms where the warm spring sun struck them best were the
most productive.

A Scotch-Irisnman located here about 1840 and was very much delighted
with the sugar making, which to him was a new way of securing the saccha-
rine substance. He worked his trees all he could in the early spring time,
and then told his neighbors that he would "stop ofif" till his corn was planted
and then would begin again. The English novelist, Thackeray, made a greater
error than this. In his charming story entitled "The Virginians," written to
portray the ill-fated expedition of General Braddock to Fort Duquesne, he
represents his hero, George Warrington, as being taken a prisoner by the
French and confined in the fort until his 'escape in October, 1756. The hero
started on foot at once by long night journeys through the wilderness to his
home in Virginia. The novelist represents him as verv greatly admiring the
hues of October frosts on the forest of western Pennsylvania. Traveling
mostly at night to escape pursuers, he saw one night a distant light in a valley.
The hero was very hungry, yet feared to go to the light lest it be the camp of
Indians or hostile French. But finally, spurred on by hunger, he ventured
close enough to discover, to his great joy, that they were farmers boiling sugar,
for this, says the novelist, "is the season of the year that the Pennsylvania
farmers secure their sugar by boiling the sap of the maple tree.'"

The Indians, too, made syrup from maple sap. They cut a small niche into
a tree and caught the drops of sap in pots or troughs, boiling very much as our
forefathers did. The sugar, or syrup, was like all other products made for
home consumption only. It was long years before there was a sale for it. The
industry, with many modern improvements, is yet extensively carried on in
many parts of western Pennsylvania, though the product now is almost exclu-
sively syrup.

The woods also at that time were full of wild fruits, and moreover all small
berries and fruits grew more abundantly and were more luscious than now.
Horace Greeley noticed this same change in the New England states, and attrib-
uted it entirely to the destruction of the original forests. This so changed the
moisture of the atmosphere and the earth, and thus so subjected the tender
buds to intense heat, stormy blasts of wind and severe cold, that small fruits
scarcely thrive at all now compared with what they did when the country was
in its original condition. Blackberries, whortleberries, raspberries, wild
plums, wild strawberries, haws, wild grapes, and sarvesberries, the latter rip-
ening early in June, were plentiful then, and of a much finer quality than the
few stragglers which the woodsmen may now occasionally find. Peach trees
bear fruit in tbeir third vear. and were easily raised, while, owing to climatic

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 217

changes, can scarcely be orrown at all now. Then they grew in every com-
munity. So also with cherries, another early bearer and rapid grower. As we
have seen from Dr. JNIcMillen's statement, our ancestors lived sometimes for
days without bread. Often an escaping captive traveled hundreds of miles
through an almost unbroken forest subsisting entirely on wild fruits.

Most of the early families depended mainly for their meat supply on the
trusty rifle. All men were presumed to know how to handle a gun. Small
boys looked forward to a great day in the future when they could be entrusted
with firearms. There was a necessity for this long after the Indians were driven
away. Judge John B. Steel tells of a well founded tradition of an old land-
owner near Greensburg who had nine sons, and in boasting about it always
added "that each son had a gun." The country was full of game. The most
prominent animals were the black and brown bears which were very common
and especially so in the eastern parts of the county, where spurs of the Alle-
gheny mountains afforded them a ready passage from their natural haunts.
They by nature inhabited deep ravines, and had dens among the rocks and in
caves, common in the mountains. They ventured out into the settlement per-
haps only in pursuit of food. The settlers' sheep, pigs and calves were always
in danger, and much more likely to be carried off in the winter than in the sum-
mer, for obvious reasons.

Charles Mitchell lived on the Loyalhanna, not far above Latrobe. One
morning he saw a large bear seize one of his half-grown pigs and carry it off.
The bear swam the creek with the pig, and there hid it behind some rocks by
covering it with leaves. IMitchell would have shot the bear, he said, had it not
happened on the "Sabbath day." All parts of the county till at least 1810 suf-
fered from such depredations. Bears were often seen and killed in the county,
notably in the eastern part, after 1833. I" 1^*^ years they have been seen on
Laurel Hill, and occasionally one has been chased over Ligonier valley. But
all of them probably belonged to the Allegheny mountains, and were driven
from their lair by hunger or by dogs. It is safe to say that no bears inhabited
^^^estmo^eland county except temporarily after 1850. The meat of the bear
very much resembled pork, and was hiehly relished by the pioneers. They
invariably laid in a stock for winter, and preserved it by salting and smoking
it. The bear skin also made at least the half of a ven,' warm blanket, because
of his thick covering of fine soft hair. The bear was hunted with dogs. He
could travel long distances through dense underbrush, and was therefore not
by any means an easv prey for the hunter. \\'hen closely pursued by dogs he
climbed a tree for safety, and could then be easily brought down by a ball from
a rifle. They were also caught in large steel traps, and were so furious when
thus snared that they frequently bit the foot off above the jaws of the trap and
thus escaped. They were caught more securely in pens made of strong logs,
built on the side of a hill, or so that the bear could easily reach the top o.f the
pen which was bated with a tempting cow's head. But the roof or top of the
pen was so arranged that it tilted with the bear's weight and dropped him into

2i8 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY

the pen, the roof immediately closing over his head. It was thus ready to an-
trap another bear. They were not crafty or cunning animals, and were often
entrapped by these simple devices.

There were also many deer in the country, and they were not confined to
the mountains, but roamed all over the present limits of the county. Later,
of course, they were driven to the mountains exclusively. They fed on grass,
herbs and buds. They were wild and quick of movement when frightened, but,
with the hunter who understood their habits, were comparatively easily shot.
Dozens of them were sometimes shot in a single year by one hunter. The deer
had certain places that it crossed from one hill or spur of mountains to another,
and the hunter who knew these crossings could easily get a shot at them. There
were then certain places where the water was slightly salted, and these places,
called "deer-licks," were much frequented by them, for they had the same
taste for salt that cattle, sheep- and horses have. The meat was unlike bear
meat; it more nearly resembled mutton or beef. It was dried, or "jerked,"
for preservation for future use. The skin of the deer was, like that of the bear,
of great service to the hunter. It was covered with a thick growth of hair that
was almost impervious to cold or rain. When prepared in the form of buckskin
or doeskin it was manufactured into breeches, coats, moccasins, etc.

Small game such as wild turkeys, pheasants, partridges, rabbits, squirrels,
etc., abounded, and in some localities were a nuisance to the growing crops.
Ammunition was too expensive to be wasted on such small game, though wild
turkeys were always considered a great delicacy. Twice each year they had
droves of wild pigeons to shoot, that is, on their migrations north in the spring,
and south in the fall. To give some idea of small game hunting let us quote
the following from an old newspaper published in 1820. "On July 4th (1820)
fourteen hunters, citizens of Donegal township, divided into two parties and
commenced the pursuit of game. In the evening they met, and the scalps
being counted, it appeared that they had killed 239 squirrels, 216 blackbirds,
255 ground squirrels, 258 woodpeckers, 7 ground hogs, 18 hawks and 16
crows. Total number, 1009."

The hunters of that day did not hunt for pleasure alone. From the Farm-
ers' Chronicle of January 25, 1828, we learn of a meeting of many citizens of
the county, held at the house of Jacob Coon, in Unity township, to devise some
means of destroying wild animals which had been committing great depreda-
tions among the sheep and poultry. At this meeting it was resolved that the
citizens of Derry, Unity, Salem and Hempfield townships, and others, be re-
quested to turn out and form a line or circle around a certain district therein
agreed on, and to have a great circular hunt. The line from Greensburg to
New Alexandria was to be under the direction of Peter George, John H. Wise,
William Williams, William McKinney, John Morrison, George Wallace, John
Bigham, James Craig, James Kean and Jacob Frantz. The line then continued
along the Loyalhanna and Nine Mile Run to Youngstown, and was to be su-
perintended by James ^loorhead, John Craig, Abraham Mansfield, Daniel H.

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 219

Barr, James Haney, Samuel Cockran, Edward Braden. ^^'illiam Johnston,
Tames Guthrie, John Welsh, Robert Dixon, William Cochran and William T.
Smith. The next line was to reach to Tranger's, on the Buzzardstown road,
and to be in charge of George Guiger, John Gibson. John Cline, Henry Tranger,
John Aukerman, Archibald Shearer, William Dinsmore, John Brindle and
Henry Fiscus. From Tranger's, the line passed through Pleasant Unity to
Greensburg, and was in charge of Michael Poorman, Henry Grafif, John Welty,
Robert Jamison, Solomon Camp, Daniel Barns, John Barns, Daniel Kuhns,
Eli Coulter, John H. Isett, Hugh Y. Brady, William F. Johnston and William
Jack.

All were invited to turn out and assist in the work. The place of meeting
was about the center of the ground surrounded, at McKissock's place, on the
road leading from Johnston's, or Shaeffer's Mills, to Greensburg. No one was
to bring firearms, nor dogs unless they led them. All who had tin horns were to
take them along. Peter George, Jacob Coon, James McGuire, Peter Bridge,
Adam Coon, Jacob Markle, Robert Storey, Oliver Niccolls and Peter Rogers
were to stake off the meeting place and manage the final arrangements. To
manage the hunt, superintend the line and prevent disorder and confusion, were
appointed Major John B. Alexander, Dr. David Marchand, Alexander John-
ston, Captain Alexander Storey, Jacob Eichor, George Smith, Major William
Kean, John Chambers, John Markle and John Rogers. The reader will no-
tice that the most prominent men in the county took part in this hunt.

From the same paper of February 8th following we learn that the "Grand
Hunt" was a great success. The movements began by slow regular steps under
a clear blue sky, and were accompanied by horns, bells, rattles, etc. When
they met at the center there were about two thousand five hundred men, and
foxes were running in every direction. There were thirty red foxes killed.
The lines also enclosed a bear and a deer, but both escaped before the line was
thoroughly guarded. Wild turkeys, pheasants and rabbits were passed by the
score, and were kept very little account of.

There were then few tools in use by the farmer compared with those found
on a well regulated farm now. Scarcely any farmer had a wagon, but hauled
his crops on a sled, which he could easily manufacture himself if he had an
auger, a saw and an axe. Hay was often hauled with a grape vine instead of
a rope, and a comparatively good sized pile weighing several hundred pounds
could be thus dragged in at once by drawing the grape vine around it. There
were no ropes in the community then. They had a rude shaped plow, but very
few harrows. To mellow the ground after plowing it, they dragged a thorn or
other scrubby tree over it. The land was covered with deadened trees and
stumps, and was very unproductive compared with the same land when thor-
oughly cleared and farmed. Grass was cut with a scythe, and grain with a
sickle. Finally grain cradles were introduced, but were used only in cutting
buckwheat. So it will appear that a farmer with an axe, saw, auger, sickle,
scythe and plow could manage to get along reasonably well.

220 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

There was little else done in the county then except farming. There were
no towns of any consequence, nearly all the people depending upon agriculture
for a livelihood. Women invariably worked in the fields and helped to per-
form much of the labor which is now done by men exclusively. To destroy
the forest was the pioneer's first duty, for it will be remembered that the entire
country was practically an unbroken wilderness at that time. The work on
the farm was very hard. A day's work was from daylight till dark. In the
winter months they cleared lands, and later threshed their grain with flails.
No one who worked a day or a few days for a neighbor, was paid in money,
but in return labor when the neighbor needed help. Any one who lived within
three or four miles was a neighbor.

Prior to 1790 there was scarcely a market for any farm product, but each
was content if he raised enough to live on from year to year, and improved his
farm or enlarged it. After that, when there came a market for rye, if distilled,
or when the manufacture of iron made a market for horses, oats and com, then
the farmers began to build better houses, and all over the county we can see the
crumbling ruins of old stone houses and barns built in the early years of the
last century. The farmer during these primitive years had few expenses. He
had no doctor bills, because there were no physicians. His fuel was cut from
the surrounding forest. His clothes were homespun or grew on the backs of
wild animals. Salt, a few iron implements and lead for bullets, were among
the few necessaries which he could not produce, but even these were subjects
of barter, and he could procure them in return for rye, potatoes, or skins of
animals.

A good hunter in those days used nothing but a rifle, and for small game a
gun of very small bore and bullet was used. It was not uncommon for a
hunter to bring in a dozen squirrels or small birds like partridge or pheasant,
and all of them shot in the head. Squirrels were often killed by "barking
them." that is, hw shooting a ball into the'bark, or between the squirrel and the
bark. This was almost sure death to the squirrel, and did not destroy its
meat.

Wolves were a great nuisance to the farmer. Taken singly, a wolf was a
cowardly, skulking animal, but a pack of them, when driven to desperation by
hunger, would attack either man or beast. The wolf of Pennsylvania was
brown in color, rather than the gray wolf of the west with which we are
familiar. They hunted their prey by scent like a dog. A pack would approach
the cabin of a farmer in quest of pigs or sheep, and announced their presence
by prolonged howls which terrified the community almost as much as did the
warwhoop of the Indian a few years previous. In that frenzied condition
produced by hunger, a gang of them would spring on a horse or cow, fasten
their teeth and claws into its flesh, and, though fought olif by all the strength
the suffering brute could command, in a few minutes the animal was brought
to the ground and devoured. A man alone after nightfall was equally in dan-
ger. All wild animals were bolder, and more likelv to assault either man or

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 221

beast a century ago than they are now. This was due, as President Roosevelt
repeatedly says in his "XMnning of the West," to the fear which has been bred
and born in the animal by generations of gun-bearing enemies. The only safety
for a man pursued by a pack of wolves was to climb a tree. They could not
follow him there, though they could watch him till morning, and it was not a
pleasant place to spend the night. An early settler named Christian Shockey,
a resident of Unity township, was returning home from a hunt one cold even-
ing in the first or second year of the last century. A pack of wolves pursued
him a long distance. He could have shot one of them, but he knew this would
not arrest the pack, so he liurriedly climbed a tree. The animals howled around
the trunk of the tree all night. They would jump, with jaws opened, as far
up towards him as they could, and he would hear the sharp sound of their
closing teeth. Far up the sides of the tree the bark for years afterwards
showed the marks of their teeth and claws. In the morning they skulked ofif
to their rocky dens, and Shockey wa% permitted to come down and go home.
Near Shockey's cabin was a large spring which never froze over, though it
was about twenty-five or thirty feet either way, being in fact the largest spring
in the county at that time. Here the wolves came for water, and here he
caught hundreds of them in steel traps, and sold their skins. The spring is
to this day called Wolf Spring.

Shockey was, as his name indicates, a German, and we can not pass him
without a few words concerning his character. He was the son of a Revolu-
tionary soldier who had been wounded at Brandywine. Christian dealt in
skins more or less all his life, trapping all the animals he could, and buying
manv from his neighbors. In 1807 he went to Hagerstown, Maryland, with
two packhorses laden with furs. He had been a lifelong patron of Jacob
Gruber's Hagerstown Almanac. Now that he was in the city where they
were published, he determined to get at least enough to supply his neighbors.
They were oflfered at a low price, much lower than he expected, so, with an
eye to a good business investment, he invested the proceeds of his skins largely
in almanacs, printed some in German and some in English. But, unfor-
tunately when he reached home he found that they were for the current year,
which was near its close, so he could not sell them. It is said that he bore it
good naturedly, and blamed only himself.

Wolves were always gregarious animals. They generally inhabited moun-
tains where they could find dens among the cavernous rocks, and where they
were not too far removed from the domestic animals of the settler. The settle-
ments contiguous to Laurel Hill and Chestnut Ridge therefore were most sub-
jected to their depredations. In 1782 the state ofifered five dollars for the
scalp o,f a wolf whelp and twenty-five dollars for that of a full grown wolf.
This was in continental currency, which was greatly depreciated, but in 1806
a reward of eight dollars in gold was oflfered for every wolf killed, and this
was afterwards raised to twelve dollars. In addition to this, some counties
which were sorelv afflicted with them offered special rewards. As a result the

222. HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

premium offered for scalps was much larger in Westmoreland than it was in
Somerset county, though the animals were more plentiful in Somerset,
because there were more mountains and it was not so well settled. So many
old hunters baited the wolves near the county line, but on the Westmoreland
side, and drew them over to Westmoreland, where the bounty was greater,
each hunter having to prove that the scalps were from animals taken in the
county where the bounty was demanded. One old hunter named Dumbold, of
Somerset county, drew the carcass of an old horse over to the Westmoreland
side, and there trapped ten wolves from it. He also received one dollar for
each wolf skin.

Squirrels and crows were also a great nuisance to the farmer. They dug
out the newly planted corn grains and feasted on the ripening fields of grain.
Premiums were put on their scalps also. Westmoreland and Fayette counties
were authorized by a special act of the legislature to assess and collect a squirrel
scalp fund. The premium offered was two cents for squirrels and three cents
for crows. Thf- ]mn::::ii' v.as l>m lullc more than the cost of ammunition.
This ammunition question alone was a perplexing one. for they could not pro-
duce the ingredients of powder, nor could they dig lead from the earth. All
firearms were then discharged by flint locks, and hence they were not compelled
to buy caps. But lead must be purchased. Powder was often manufactured by
the pioneer. Its explosive qualities are brought about by the chemical action
of a union of three non-explosive ingredients, viz., saltpeter, charcoal and
sulphur. Taking about six-tenths of the former and two-tenths of each of the
latter, they first pulverized each separately, then mixed them in water, and
dried the mixture in a skillet o.r pot on the house fire. To keep the mixture
from becoming a solid mass they were compelled to stir it constantly. When
finally dried they had a fair quality of powder. The charcoal they could pro-
duce, but had to purchase saltpeter and sulphur. It could still be made at a
less cost than the selling price of powder. One old hunter in the eastern part
oi the county was thus manufacturing powder and drying it on a cook stove.
Forgetting himself, or perhaps not realizing that it was dry, he stirred the fire
below with the same paddle he was using in stirring the powder. When
he again began to stir the powder a small coal perhaps adhered to the paddle.
At all events it exploded, and very nearly cost him his life.

Another crying need of the settler was salt. This they could not produce
from their land, and neither they nor their live stock could get along well
without it. In Craig's "History of Pittsburgh" is quoted a letter from Broad-
head, written to the president of the council, in which he says salt will purchase
material which money would not buy. He urges them to send salt, and that
they can't possibly send too much salt. All the salt was then brought here on
packhorses from Hagerstown, Maryland, or from Philadelphia, hence its great
scarcity. In 179.0 one bushel of salt was worth twenty bushels of wheat.
Meat could not be kept without salt, so the scarcity of salt brought about a
corresponding scarcitv of meat. When Pittsburgh was garrisoned it was not

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 223

uncommon to send the soldiers out to hunt in the woods for game. Few cattle
were raised because of the enormous prices of salt. About 1800,
Kentucky salt was manufactured from the inexhaustible salt wells of that state,
and was brought up to Pittsburgh in barrels on boats, and after that it was
cheaper. Yet, in 1806, Kentucky salt was worth fourteen dollars per barrel,
though the barrels were about one-third larger than they are now. For many
years it was worth from 12^ to 20 cents per quart at retail. Deer licks were
known here long before the Revolution, but the farmers had neither the money
nor the knowledge to bore for and manufacture it. It was not infrequent that
a train of packhorses went east laden with skins and furs and returned laden
with salt.

Both congress and the legislature of Pennsylvania passed measures to re-
lieve the people from their crying need of salt. In September, 1776, a large
amount of salt was found secreted by some Tory merchants in Philadelphia,
and it was at once confiscated and divided around among the counties, the
share of Westmoreland county being three hundred and nineteen bushels. In
1778 the legislature purchased a large quantity for free distribution, and they
also passed a law against any one having a monopoly of the salt trade. The
Continental Congress itself established a salt works in New Jersey, but like most
of its exploits, the works were not successful. In 1779 a "Committee of Salt"
was appointed by the state to regulate its price and to force its sale on the part
of those who had laid by large quantities of it. In a "Merchants ^Memorial"
relative to a seizure of salt made by the "Salt Committee" on October 23,
1779, it is stated that they had refused $200 per bushel for it, and that now
when taken from them for the state's benefit they were only receiving 30 pounds,
or $150 for it. Flour was very scarce in the east, so President Reed proposed
in 1799 that salt be distributed among the counties in proportion to the amount
of flour sent east by them.

Salt wells were inexhaustible in Kentucky, but they had not as yet begun
to distill whisky, so when our people began to make whisky, boat loads of it
were sent down the river and exchanged for salt. But salt in the early part
of the last century remained high in price, and it was not unusual for farmers
to unite and send down to Hagerstown or Kentucky a train of packhorses
which could carry back the salt for the farmer for the coming year. Each
packhorse could carry from three to four hundred pounds of salt. As late as 1820
famers' boys went in groups far salt. One horse could carry two hundred and
fifty pounds of salt, and a boy rider in addition. The rate of travel was about
twenty-five miles per day. The boys looked forward all year to the prospect
of the trip to the salt works in the fall. When they returned they were veritable
young heroes, and were sought to tell of their sight-seeing trip. Shortly
after 1800 salt was discovered in the Conemaugh Valley by an old woman
named Deemer, who saw salt water oozing up in the river bottom in times of
low water. William Johnston first sunk a well and started a salt works there.
His land lay near Saltsburg, where he built a grist mill and called his place

224

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

Point Johnston. This was in 1812 or 1813, and his works, which could pro-
duce about thirty bushels of salt a day, brought down the price considerably.
Salt was known on Jacob's Creek long before this, because of the deer-licks
there. William Beck first began its manufacture in that locality, that is on
Sewickley Creek. It was there about five hundred feet below the surface,
while Johnston bored a well only about two hundred and ninety feet deep,
where he found an abundance of salt water. On Sewickley they bored the well
by man-power purely. Four men stood on the ground, four on a platform
above them, and the eight men grasped the shaft of the auger, and, raising

SMITH'S MILL BUILT AT SMITHTON ABOUT 1801

it about three feet, let it fall ; this was repeated time after time, and the
auger was turned an inch or so each time. There was a rope fastened to the
auger after the end of the shaft passed under the ground. It is known
that they were three years in boring a hole five hundred feet deep, but it
is scarcely probable that the work was steadily pursued. The well was tubed
and the manufacture of salt began, and this reduced the price of salt in
Westmoreland county from five to seven dollars a barrel, the manufacture
being fairly started in 1820. It was boiled in kettles and salt pans over

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 225

wood fires. The water was pumped from the well with horse-power. All
this primitive manner of manufacture made it very expensive, and for years
afterwards a good cow might be exchanged for salt, but brought only one
barrel.

A great manv references have been made to the Continental money of
this formative period of our county, and to its fluctuating values. The real
value was so indefinite that it is hard to say what it was worth in gold or
silver. It was, however, an important factor in the settlement of our county,
and must be properly considered. It was practically the only measure of
values they had for years. Gold and silver had scarcely any circulation at
all in those years west of the Allegheny mountains, but it became a measure
of values in 1789, when the country as a Union came under the new or pres-
ent constitution. Prior to that Continental money had scarcely any pur-
chasing power at all. An old order book of 1780 among other things pre-
scribes the amounts which landlords are allowed to charge their patrons
for licjuor and accommodations. These rates are as follows, and are given
in Continental money: One-half pint of whisky, $6; whole pint of whisky,
$8.50; supper, $2; breakfast, $2; lodging, with clean sheets on the bed, $3;
one horse and hay over night, $3.

So no valuation of property based on such depreciated currency can
be of any value to us. In 1779 flour and bacon were very scarce here and
were brought across the mountains on packsaddles. Bacon sold for one
dollar a pound, and flour was $16 per barrel. Congress resorted to all man-
ner of devices to sustain the value of its currency. It passed embargo acts,
legal tender acts, limitation of prices acts, enacted penalties for refusing to
take it, etc., but all their enactments were ineffectual in giving it a pur-
chasing power equal cr anything like equal to its denomination. The only
result seemed to be to bring the Continental Congress into greater con-
tempt. Perhaps our people suft'ered more from it after the Revolution than
at any other time. Soldiers at the close of the war were paid oflf in it.
This brought much of it into our county, and resulted in the immediate
disappearance of what little gold and silver we had. As if this was not
enough, the state also issued a currency. There was no reason why this
might not have been good, for it could have been redeemed by the issuing
power. But the people were so opposed to paper money that the state's cur-
rency had but little more value than that of Congress.

The county commissioners of our county in 1780 adopted a system of
value which must have been about fair, for it was confirmed by our courts.
In this system $30 in Continental money was valued at three shillings and
six pence. This would indicate that one dollar in gold was worth more than
$150 in Continental currency. David Duncan, commissioner of purchases,
reported that he had purchased in 1781 stall-fed beef at one shilling per
pound, state money, and whisky at six or seven shillings per gallon. He

226 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

further said, "I have liatl men in the Glades trying to purchase beef, but not
one would sell without hard money."

The people in Westmoreland had much trouble to pay their preachers.
Instead of money they often delivered farm products. In Fairfield township,
in 1789, they stipulated that the amounts subscribed by the members were
to be paid either in money or grain, and wheat was to be rated, when de-
livered at the parsonage, at four shillings per bushel, rye or corn at two
shillings and six pence per bushel. They also bargained that this should be
paid quarterly, and that it should be sued for as lawful debts if not paid.
In Sewickley congregation in 1792 they agreed that one-half the preacher's
salary should be paid in money and one-half in produce. They rated wheat
at four shillings per bushel, rye at three shillings, and com at two shillings
and six pence per bushel. Rye was higher then than corn, because they
had begun to manufacture it into whisky. It is not uncommon to find an old
will among our records in which the father gives his land to a son. or per-
haps divides it between his sons, and stipulates that he shall deliver to the
other son or daughters, as the case ma}- be, a certain number of bushels of
wheat, rye, oats or corn, and sometimes these products of the farm were
to be delivered annually to such heirs as their entire share of the estate.
Thus he made, as he supposed, an equal division of his property, and one
which his children could carry out.

Late in the century the merchant came, and stores were started by the mer-
chant laying in a stock of groceries and common fabrics, which he replen-
ished twice each year by going east for them. Heretofore we have been
dealing almost entirely with the farmers, for there were few others worth
considering in ths community. But late in the century came the first stores
kept bv the old-time merchants. They were usually at some important cross-
roads, where was also a blacksmith shop and a few other houses, and some-
times, when water-power was near, a gristmill was the center around which
the others clustered. The merchant kept a "store," not a shop, and usually
lived in the rear of his storeroom. His storeroom was perhaps not over
twelve by sixteen feet, and had counters around three sides of it. It was
heated by a wood fire. On his shelves he had dishes, groceries, ammunition,
tobacco, and a few common fabrics by the web. His goods were sold mostly
at about one hundred per cent, profit. While this seems enormous, it was
perhaps not too great, for he took all kinds of farm products in payment,
and sometimes had great difficulty in disposing of them. He took in bacon,
wool, butter, eggs, whisky, flour, and, as an old-time merchant of a much
later date once told the writer, "a little of everything except money." With
all his profits on his goods he generally had hard work to replenish his store
twice each year. This he did in the early years after 1800 by a long horse-
back journey to Baltimore or Philadelphia, carrying in his saddlebags the
gold with which to pay for the goods he purchased. He was usually looked

HISTORY OF U'ESTMORELAND COUNTY

227

up to as the leading business man of his community. He wrote letters,
articles of agreement, etc., for his neighbors, and sometimes founded a little
town, which frequently even yet exists. Later he was postmaster of the
community or the village, and kept an account of letters sent from the office,
and charged his patrons with those which they received, for the postao-e
was then paid by the person who received the letter. So, if the patron who
received the letter did not have the cash to pay the postage, it was charged
to him on the books of the storekeeper, in the postoffice book, however, as
though he had received so much powder or lead. A book of that kind
kept by an old-time merchant in the early half of the last century is now
in the possession of the writer. It is a home-made, red-lined book, and is
kept very neatly with a quill pen. It gives the names of the people receiv-
ing letters, the office or state from which they came, and the amount of
postage charged, for this varied according to the distance the letter was
carried. A letter from any place in this county is charged six cents postage ;
one from Pittsburgh 10 cents and i2y> cents, perhaps according to its size.
From Ohio a letter cost 18^ cents ; from New York, 25 cents. There are
several charges of 39^ cents, and in each the word "ship," or England,
is opposite, indicating that it came from a foreign land. Only about one
letter in a hundred is written to a woman, and even these are mostly to widows.

Western Pennsylvania is by nature a grain producing country. When
the century closed, Pennsylvania was the only state that was producing more
grain than its inhabitants consumed. For this surplus there was but a lim-
ited market. Flour could not, with profit, be shipped a long distance on
packhorses, even though the east had great need of it. Every section in that
age had learned, because of the limited facilities for transportation, to pro-
duce enough of each commodity to supply its own needs if possible. Nev-
ertheless, we had a surplus of grain, and this brought about the -manufac-
ture of whisky. When it was taxed by the United States, as we have before
seen, it came very nearly bringing about a civil war, so great had the in-
dustry grown in a few years.

Furthermore, the country dealer had to purchase skins and furs from
the Indians, who wanted liquor more than any other commodity. \\'e have
therefore preserved to us many letters from traders to their houses in the
east, stating that they are handicapped in securing furs and skins by not
having whisky to ofter in return for them, and that those who have whisky
get all the paltry trade. Their universal request is for whisky.

About 1784 the firm of Turnbull, Marmie & Co., who were iron pro-
ducers in Philadelphia, sent a few stills to Westmoreland county. They were
at once set up, and the business grew very rapidly. In a few years the Phil-
adelphia company opened up an iron business in Pittsburgh with the main
purpose of making stills, though they engaged also in a general iron busi-
ness. They were among the first, if not the first, iron producers in the city
which has since controlled the iron market of the world. Our people now

228 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

could find a market for their whisky, and could not find a market for their
rye and corn. Hence they were in a measure compelled to distill their
products. By 1792, or thereabouts, stills were very numerous all over West-
ern Pennsylvania. Judge Veech, who wrote a great deal on the Whisky
Insurrection and the early history generally, says there were only a few less
than six hundred in the western counties of the state. Every community
had them. In some sections there was a still in every fifth or sixth house.
:Manv, indeed all of them, were very small affairs compared with our mam-
moth plants of this, generation, but they made whisky, and that was all they
were meant to do. Many farmers traded land for stills. A farmer who
had no still took his grain to his neighbor who had one, and the neighbor
took a part of the product in pay for distilling it. Resultant from this the
farmers engaged largely in rye culture, and even those who had no money
could convert their rye into liquor. The stills were small, such as are used
by the latter day- "moonshiners," and could be put in a cellar, a spring-house,
or a small log cabin built for that purpose, and which has since been known
by the pretentious name of "still-house." Very few of them had mills con-
nected with the stills, but some of the larger ones were located near an old-
fashioned gristmill. The farmer took his grain to the mill, and after it was
properlv ground, hauled it to the distiller.

As a result the use of liquor became very general, though the almost
universal testimony is that but few of our ancestors drank to excess. Store-
keepers took whisky regularly in exchange for goods, and sold it to their
customers. It was not unusual, indeed it was quite common, for the country
merchant to have a barrel on his counter, and to give each customer a dram,
the women and children as well as the men. There were few farmers who
did not have a barrel in their cellars, to which all members of the family
had free access. This custom was kept up and was not uncommon as late
as 1840. The general custom was to drink it straight, but sometimes it was
mixed with tansy or mint, or sweetened with maple sugar. Taken in mod-
eration, it was probably a preventive of fevers, ague and colds, and many
other diseases in their incipiency. Davy Crockett said it made a man warm
in winter and cool in summer. It was used bv the barrel at raisings, parades
and musters. It was common to pass it around at weddings and at all other
gatherings. Ministers did not preach against it as they do now. Often at
funerals, in cold weather, it was heated and given in tin cups to those who
had a long ride or walk to the graveyard. This appears almost shocking to
us, but it must be remembered that they drank it as a tonic or medicine,
as we drink coffee, and not as a beverage. Clergymen drank it openly. Rev.
Dr. McMillen was certainly a man of high character and many virtues, yet
his biographers all' relate of him that when on his way to Presbytery, in
company with Rev. James Patterson, they stopped at a tavern to get a drink.
When the liquor was poured into the glasses, Patterson, being a very devout

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUXTY. 229

man, proposed to ask a blessing before drinking- it. But, the blessing bein'T
a somewhat protracted eft'ort, while it was in progress and Patterson's eyes
were closed, tne old doctor drank both glasses, and then admonished the
young preacher that he must ever thereafter "watch as well as pray." But
the young preacher did not go away thirsty. On one occasion Bishop Onder-
donk came to Greensburg to attend and officiate at a rather extensive and
important confirmation. On his way to the church, clad in the usual robes
of his order, he stopped at Rhorer's hotel and drank a tumbler of brandy
and no one thought he had done anything particularly out of the way. It
is not correct to say that clergymen generally drank, using the term as we
use it now, but many of them, like their parishioners, used liquor, but in
moderation.

In 1756 Reverend Beatty. who has been spoken of as chaplain in Forbes'
army, and as preaching the first sermon at Fort Duquesne after its capture,
accompanied Benjamin Franklin and his forces to Fort Allen. Franklin says
in his autobiography that the preacher complained to him that the soldiers
did not attend prayers with any degree of regularity, and Franklin told him
that each soldier was entitled to a gill of rum each day, and advised Rev.
Beatty to act as steward in dispensing the rum, and to distribute it each
morning after prayers, or after the sermon. The reverend gentleman took
the advice kindly, and told Franklin afterward that it worked to a charm,
saying that prayers were never more generally nor more punctually attended.
Yet he was a man of high character, and, as the reader will see, figured
largely in the early Presbyterianism of the county and of Western Penn-
sylvania.

In 181 1, Washington Furnace, near Laughlintown, had just been com-
pleted, and on the Fourth of July the citizens had a great celebration, not
only of the nation's birth, but of the great strides they were making in the
iron industry as v/ell. The Register of that date reports the proceedings,
and says that "after partaking of a handsome and wholesome repast, they
drank some whisky mixed with pure water." These people were leaders
in the religious and social world, and we must not be considered as seeking
to cast a reflection or disrespect upon their memories. We are merely en-
deavoring to give the reader a few illustrations of the almost universal cus-
tom of using liquor among our better people.

The government, though economical by necessity, purchased a great deal
of whisky for the Revolutionary soldiers, and issued it to them as regular
rations. It was not uncommon for a young man to engage to work with a
farmer all winter for his bed and board and three drams per day. In fact,
whisky in those days was used somewhat like coffee is now. A favorite
proverb of our liquor using ancestor was, "Give strong drink unto hini that
is ready to perish and wine unto those that be heavy of heart." "Let him
drmk and forget his poverty and remember his misery no more."

230

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

When General ^^'illiam Irvine announced the "Glorious News" of the
surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown, he added the following : "The com-
missaries will issue a gill of whisky extraordinary, to the non-commissioned
officers and privates upon this joyful occasion." Commissioned officers were
not limited to a "gill, extraordinary." This was in Pittsburgh, and the sur-
render was doubtless properly ratified.

Furthermore, in the age of which we are writing, whisky was almost
a measure of value, a medium of exchange in the place of gold which did
not circulate, or of Continental or state money which had no fixed value.
Corn, wheat, rye, etc., were valued by the quantity of whisky a bushel would
bring. John Barleycorn was always a ready sale, and with it the pioneer
could purchase all groceries, household goods or anything else in the market.
Land was often bought with whisky. Our best men bartered farms for stills
or their product. Our records show that farms now in the coal belt, and
worth more than a thousand dollars per acre, were once sold for a few
gallons of whisky. Even subscriptions to the clergyman's salary were some-
times paid in wnisky, and not infrequently it was used in paying ofl: church
debts.

From the first, as we have seen, its manufacture and sale were under
the control of the courts, which also fixed the rates the landlord might charge
his customers for accommodations. By our law a justice of the courts could
neither make nor sell liquor. Several times Edward Cook, one of the
justices, was returned for distilling lic[uor. These informations were always
either quashed by the court or ignored by the grand jury. In 1784 several
men in our county were convicted and fined for both making and selling
liquor without license. The council in Philadelphia remitted the fines be-
cause of "the peculiar distress to which the frontier inhabitants had been
subjected during the Revolution." While a justice could not sell liquor,
he could grant the permission to his relatives, and so Robert Hanna, a justice,
had his daughter Jean repeatedly licensed to sell spirituous liquors.

In March sessions of our court in 1794 the judges regulated the num-
ber of tavern-keepers' licenses to be granted in this county. They licensed
eight for the town of Greensburg. There were no other towns in the county-
then, for Pittsburgh had left us with the formation of Allegheny county,
in 1788, but there were several highways leading to Greensburg. On each
of these thev granted licenses, and to these were granted twenty-seven licenses,
making thirty-five in all. At that time a great many little matters now paid
for by the county were done without the thought of pay, except a free al-
lowance of whisky. When the trial lists were to be made up the lawyers
met in the prothonotary's office and selected the cases to be tried. The
prothonotarv had for this occasion a jug of old rye and a plentiful supply of
tobacco. On election dav the constables served at the window of the election
room, and never received any other remuneration than as much whisky

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAXD COUXTY. 231

as they wanted to drink. Jurors served regularly without pay or mileage,
but the county commissioners supplied them witli free whisky while here.
Later was added the pay for their dinner at the hotel, but no further re-
muneration was thought of till about 1810.

The first mills for grinding grain were small hand affairs which could
be hauled around from one farm to another, to suit the trade. Later on
a larger and better style was introduced, which were turned by a water-
wheel, but they generally had tread-wheel attachments by which they could
be propelled in times of low water. These mills were called tub mills,
because of the tub-shaped hopper into which the grain was put to be ground.
From this we have several streams named Tub Mill, Tub Creek, etc., after
the mills located on them. These streams, it may be observed, were larger
then than now, and were regular in their flow. This is of course due to the
cutting away of the forests, which allows the rainfall to flow at once from
the hillsides, consequently manv of the streams which formerly turned mills
are now almost gone.

The location of mills brought about petitions for roads to them. Many
of the early road petitions set forth that the proposed road is necessary to
reach a permanently located mill, etc. Arthur St. Clair built, we think,
the first permanent mill in the present Westmoreland county in about 1772.
It was located on ]\Iil! Creek, near where Hermitage Furnac« site, about
one and a quarter miles north of Ligonier. A notice of it may be seen in the
quarter sessions docket.

Dennison's mill, on the Loyalhanna, and Saxman's mill, below Latrobe,
on the same stream, were built about the close of the Revolution. Jones'
mill, on Indiana Creek, and Irwin's mill,, on Brush Creek, were built about
that time, but we cannot determfne the date. The farmer or his boy took
a bag of wheat to the mill and waited till it was ground. Sometimes when
water was plenty the mill ran all night, and the miller entertained his cus-
tomers from long distances till the grist was ground. Water mills on small
streams could not run all year because of the low water. In the winter,
moreover, the ice clogged the water-wheels, and the grinding again had to
stop. Some of the mills had horse-power attachments, and, in times of low
water, men who wanted grain ground had to furnish horses to propel the
mill, and to pay toll also, for from time immemorial grain was ground for
a part of the flour.

The reader can have but little doubt that our county owed its first settle-
ment to the roads cut througli it by Braddock and Forbes. We are always slow
to acknowledge what we, as a community, reallv owe to good roads, to speedy
methods of travel and transportation of goods. Forbes' road traversed the
county from east to west, and was long known as the "Great Road." Brad-
dock's was not so directly across the county. Each was about twelve feet
wide, and in an early day was arched nearly all the way with overhanging

232

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

branches. Close by the side of the road stood the tall trees of the original for-
ests. The road was made for heavy army wagons and mounted guns, but after
a few years, owing to the undergrowth of the forests and the wash of period-
ical floods, they were almost impassable. Bouquet, it will be remembered, in
passing over the Forbes road five years after it was constructed, was compelled
to leave his heavy wagons at Ligoaiier in order to facilitate his journey to Fort
Pitt. This was mainly because of the roughness of the road, and Dunmore's
troops were fortunately handicapped in the same way.

One of the first of the many petitions presented to our first court, in ]\Iarch,
1773, was from men living along the Forbes road, asking the court to appoint
viewers to report the condition of the road with a view of having it repaired.
They represented that because of washouts, fallen timber and undergrowth, it
was impossible in some places to pass along it. Of course, the roads in a new
country, with comparatively few settlers, could not be kept in good condition.
There was no broken stone in the road-bed. It was, moreover, shaded all the
year, and therefore very slow to become dry and hard. Over the swamps,
bridges of corduroy were thrown, but there were no bridges built across the
streams. AH streams were forded. There were no fences to speak of, and
but few cleared fields on the western section of the road. The traveler fre-
quently saw a bear crossing the road in front of him, a deer bounding away
from a stream as he approached. Sprouts grew rapidly from the stumps of the
trees felled to make the road, and it is possible that the roads generally were
not better than those that are now made hurriedly through our mountains to
remove ties and bark from the central parts of the forests.

The reader will understand that travel on these roads by wagons was out
of the question, even if our early settlers had possessed such vehicles. Goods
were carried long distances by pack-horses only. Wagons did not come in
use for long hauls till several years after the Revolution, when the State road,
which will be considered later, was constructed. Men journeyed on horseback
when traveling either on pleasure or business. This was much more speedy,
much safer and more comfortable than being jolted over a rough road in a
carriage or wagon. By horseback remained the popular way of travel long
after it ceased to be the only means of going about.

English writers of an early period, notably SmoJlett in his "Adventures of
Roderick Random." and Shakespeare in "Henry the Fourth," have spoken of
pack-horses traveling thirty miles per day. If well laden, on our rough roads
this was impossible. Twenty miles was a good day's journey, and with a bur-
den of three or four hundred pounds, it required an extraordinary horse to
make that much. The pack-horse train became a regular business. They
made much better time than a wagon train could have made, and perhaps
transported nearly as much weight per horse as the early wagoners. They
carried one hundred weight by regular contract from Philadelphia or Baltimore
to Pittsburgh, for from ten to twelve dollars, depending somewhat on the char-
acter of the eoods. Pack-horses were driven in trains, and one driver, who

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUXTY. 233

rode on another horse, managed from eight to twelve of them. All were tied
by halters to a rope which was fastened to. a breast strap or other similar de-
vice on the front horse, and all walked in single file. The horses soon learned
to walk along quietly under their heavy burdens, following the one in front,
which carried also an iron band across his shoulders, on which was fastened
several bright sounding bells. They made the trip from Philadelphia to Pitts-
burgh in about two weeks, and did not travel on Sunday, as a rule, for at June
sessions of our court, in 1785, Michael Huflfnagle receipted to George Nixon and
Philip Bradley for six pounds for "breaking Sunday" by driving pack-horses
through Hannastown.

A pack-saddle was made o,f wood, and except that it was wider and longer
it did not differ otherwise from a modern cavalry saddle. Upon it a skillful
packer could load a great variety of goods if necessary. To make a saddle fit
the horse and not injure his back, required a skillful tradesman, and there was
a regular pack-saddle maker in Pittsburgh and one in Greensburg. Pieces of
cloth or old blankets were put under the saddle to prevent it from galling the
lior;e. These saddles, with the addition of stirrups, were used for horseback
riding also, though they were not so well adapted to it as the regular saddle.
Upon the pack-saddle were often tied baskets which contained babies, the chil-
dren of emigrants to the west, bars of iron, clothing, webs of dry goods, tools
of all kinds, kegs of powder, salt, glass, skins and furs, whisky and even ten-
plate stoves.

Merchants for safety generally rode to Baltimore or Philadelphia, when on
their annual or semi-annual trips to purchase goods, in companies of from four
to a dozen, and trains of pack-horses brought back the goods they purchased.
r^Iembers of Congress and of the Assembly went east at the first of the session
and remained till its close. They generally went in companies of from eight
to ten, and had pack-horses to follow with such clothes or other articles as they
might need there. Lawyers and judges rode from the west to the east on busi-
ness, or from one county seat to another, tc attend court. A good riding horse
would carry a man from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia in about eight days, and
sometimes in less than that. At night they stopped at the wayside tavern, and
■sat around old-fashioned log fires in the evening, telling stories.

CHAPTER XVI

Indian Trails Across Westmoreland. — Braddock's Road. — Forbes' Road. — State Road. — -
Felgar. — Post Road. — The Main Turnpike From Pittsburgh to the East.

The old roads of Westmoreland county were in reality marked out by the
Indians long before the first white man came here. There seems to be an
instinct in man to follow the setting sun in his journeys, and the Red men were
no exception to mankind in general in this matter. They had well defined foot-
paths and trails which they traveled in going from one hunting or fishing
ground to another, to other neighboring tribes, to their council meetings, or to
other posts, and back to their homes. As far as possible these journeys were
made to lead along streams, but far enough away to avoid the low marshy
grounds. Frequently these paths took an undeviating line which had evidently
been directed by the unerring sun. Sometimes unchanging landmarks were
used to guide them back and forth. Later in their history their paths diverged
to take advantage oi unfrequented localities, but until the advent of the white
race there was no necessity for this.

In their long journeys they always followed each other, "Indian fashion,"
as it has been designated. They did not walk erect but rather stooping for-
ward, as a hunter naturally does when in pursuit of game. Their walk was a
peculiar swing, somewhat more rapid than our ideas of walking are, but not so
fast as a run. This gait they seemed able to keep up almost tirelessly for days
and days when necessary. There were three principal paths, each distinctly
marked, which crossed our county. One of these led from the Allegheny river
by the Kiskiminetas and Juniata rivers to the Susquehanna. Another was a
path from the Allegheny across Laurel Hill. Then there was another path,
greater and more important than either of these, called Nemacolin's path. This
name was probably given to it by Washington, for an Indian named Nemacoliu'
guided him over it on his first visit to western Pennsylvania, when he was sent
out in the interests of the Ohio company. Nemacolin was a bright, active Del-
aware Indian. When Washington passed over it in 1753, it was a reasonably
well broken path, almost good enough for a wagon or a train of pack-horses.

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 235.

\\'hen Washington came to pilot Braddock to Fort Duquesne, he selected this
path, and the latter improved it and called it Braddock's road.

All these paths, it will be seen, led to the forks of the Ohio. This was,
from time immemorial, a meeting- place for the Indians. Those from the-
north came down the Allegheny on a regular path. The paths leading north
and south were not so well known generally. The Indians had paths extending
all the wav from Florida, through South and North Carolina and \'irginia,
into Pennsylvania, terminating at the headwaters of the Ohio^. Another came-
from Tennessee and Kentucky into Pennsylvania, and, passing Uniontown,,
crossed the Youghiogheny river where Braddock crossed it, thence passed
through Ligonier valley, crossing the Conemaugh river and passing the head-
waters of the Susquehanna, led the travelers to western New York, where the
"Six Nations" often met in holding ccuncil-fires. Along these trails the In-
dians traveled either visiting or hunting, and they were all well marked wherr
the first real road making began with the advent of the white settler. These
trails were known to the white men as well, and by watching them many cap-
tures were avoided. The first settlers and explorers, such as George Crogan,
Christopher Gist, Post and others, often saw them moving rapidly along these
paths imconscious that their movements were being watched. Long afterward,
along these routes were the ashes of the pioneer's log cabin, or the mutilated
remains of its owner.

The Indians who inhabited Westmoreland county originally were the Del-
awares and the Shawnees. The depredations committed were only in part by
these races, for along these old trails came more hostile tribes than either of
these, from New York, northern Pennsylvania and the west. Generally the
Delawares were more friendly or more nearly friendly than any other tribe.
There was a trail which left the Allegheny river a short distance above the
Forks at Shannopinstown, and passed southeastward across W'estmoreland
county to Ligonier valley, where it intersected the main trail through the val-
ley, going north and south, which latter crossed the Conemaugh near where
New Florence now stands.

The Indians had had many towns and camps on these trials within the pres-
ent limits of the county. This is evidenced by the discovery of curious pieces
of pottery, implements of stone, weapons of war, club-heads, arrow-heads,
darts, spear-headed flints, etc., and these being found in some sections in abund-
ance, indicates that the race which made and used them tarried long at these
places. Along these trails, too. have been found Indian graves and burying-
places, these in greater numbers along them than in any other places west of
the Allegheny mountains.

Christopher Gist was, so far as we can learn, the first explorer who. crossed
our county. He was a Virginia surveyor, and a woodsman of high ability.
On November 14, 1750, he arrived at "an old Indian town called Loyalhanna,
on a creek of the Ohio called Kiscominetas." This was eight years before
Forbes' army built a fort tliere. The town stood where the fort was built, that

/236 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

is, where the town of Ligonier now stands. The Indian chief at Loyalhanna
■could speak English to some extent, and directed Gist to Shannopinstown.

None of our Indian villages were of any great magnitude like they had in
New York and later in the west. They were of such a character that the in-
habitants could remove at any time if hunting or fishing were better elsewhere.
It must further be remembered that the Indians never occupied permanently
anv part of our territory after the Fort Stanwix Treaty of 1768. Into these
main trails ran smaller ones, but only the leading ones are known to us. These
Indians had selected good routes over which to travel, for some of our best
roads were located on the trails made by the Indians. The National Pike
through southwestern Pennsylvania took a path made by the Delawares a cen-
tury before it was constructed. Braddock's road, as we have said, took an-
other, while Forbes' road was practically the same general route of the Indian
trail from Shannopinstown to Loyalhanna. The Old State road, and after it
the Pittsburgh and Philadelphia turnpike, took the same general direction all
the way from Pittsburgh to Bedford. Of these later roads we shall now speak.

There was scarcely a session of court up to 1790 that there were not several
petitions for public roads. They were, however, often to accommodate, per-
liaps at the time they were laid out, but one or two people, or perhaps for the
benefit of a mill of some kind. At that time the county, even from its limited
exchequer, assisted in making and maintaining some of these early roads. One
of these petitions, dated June 20, 1789, is headed, "The Worshipful Bench
at Greensburg," and also asks for a road from "Crooked Creek to Col. Charles
Campbell's." Another petition filed at April sessions, 1789, asks for a road to
begin at a "May-pole in Greensburg, etc." In still another, Greensburg is styled
the "^Metropolis." All these roads then laid out were to be twenty-five feet
wide.

On September 25, 1785, the legislature passed an act providing for the con-
struction oi a road, the eastern end or Westmoreland part of which, when
built, was known as the State road. The act appropriated $2000 to open this
road from the western part of Cumberland countv to Pittsburgh, a distance of
over one hundred miles, or less than twenty dollars per mile. It also author-
ized the council to appoint a commission to lay it out, and provided that it
should be made as straight and direct a line as the hills and mountains would
admit. It was to be sixty feet wide. The council had unlimited authority to
refuse all locations determined on by the commission. It was surveyed and
laid out at once, and the report of the commission for that part of it lying east
of Bedford was confirmed November 24, 1787. The part from Bedford to
Pittsburgh was refused a confirmation, and a resurvey was ordered. The west-
ern section of Pennsylvania, particularly Westmoreland and Allegheny coun-
ties, was greatly in need of the road. It may be asked why a new road was
needed from Bedford to Pittsburgh when the Forbes road traversed that very
locality. The explanation is very simple. The Forbes road was a military
road purely. It was, moreover, made for the sole purpose of transporting an

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 237

armv through a wilderness infested with a steahhy and barbarous enemy. As
such, a precursory glance at the topography of the country will show that it was
very wisely laid out. What Forbes endeavored most to do was to avoid the
possibility of ambuscades or surprises on the part of the Indians, and to do this
most effectually, he kept on the highest ground possible. To illustrate, he
crossed Laurel Hill at a high, though not at its highest point, and crossed the
Ligonier valley by keeping on high ground, and as far as convenient from the
narrow bottom of the Loyalhanna. Except when necessary for them to do so,
the route did not come near the low ground skirting the Loyalhanna ; even in
going to Fort Ligonier, which was perhaps necessarily built on its banks, they
kept on high ground. But for this desire to keep on high grounds he could
have gone down the Loyalhanna water-gap through the Chestnut Ridge on al-
most level but low ground. After leaving the Loyalhanna he kept on the high-
est possible ground, that is, on the dividing ridge between the tributaries of the
Loyalhanna and Kiskiniinetas rivers on the north, and those of the Sewickley
and Youghiogheny on the south. So his road, often called in those days the
"King's road," was not suited for a public road in many places in times of
peace. It was so steep in sections of it that wagoners tied trees to their rear
axle which, by dragging on the ground, let them down slowly. Braddock's
road was laid out according to the same principle in engineering. No other
consideration than to protect his army from being surprised while in a narrow
valley, by Indians on higher ground, would have prompted them to cross the
Monongahela river twice in four miles when approaching Fort Duquesne.

The western end of the Old State road was finally approved after several
surveys, on May 26, 1790, and was very soon opened up for public travel. It
entered the county east of Laughlintown, and passed through that village,
crossing the Loyalhanna and then passed a mile south of the present location of
Ligonier, and passed over the Chestnut Ridge to the west of the Loyalhanna
gap, and thence down the western slope of the Ridge to Youngstown. It was
on this old road that General St. Clair resided in his declining years. The road
then passed through Greensburg and Adamsburg. leaving Irwin a short distance
to the north, and thence out of the county directl)- towards Turtle Creek. When
it was laid out in 1791, none of the above places had an existence at all as
villages, except Greensburg. It had been the county-seat for five years, and
had a growing population. Villages and tavern stands sprung up all along
the route. Near the tavern a blacksmith and a wagonmaker located and soon
others came. The location of the Old State Road is more nearly the location of
the present turnpike, which came much later. It was over the Old State road
that transportation by pack-horses reached its highest point. Strong wagons,
with now and then a carriage, also passed over it, but from the limited amount
of money expended upon it we may be assured that it was never a complete
highway even for that day. It served its purpose, however, and over it came
many new settlers both for this section and the boundless west. A mail route

^38 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

was established and finally carried over it regularly by express riders on horse-
back. Mail was often sent by private individuals who chanced to be passing
over the road. Many a letter now important to. us as indicating the early con-
■ dition of our people, was carried across the mountains in the pocket of a casual
passerby on this road to the east. Prior to the completion oi this road, that is
about 1784, the people tried by private subscriptions to have mail carried regu-
larly between Pittsburgh and the east, but it failed. In 1786 James Brison was
authorized by the national government to establish a post route from Philadel-
phia to Pittsburgh. This was, of course, on the Forbes road as far east as Bed-
ford, but it was not a regularly kept up mail route for many years after that.
The Grccnsburg and Indiana Register of November 12, 1812, seems to hail with
great joy the fact that a regular mail route was then recently established be-
tween Bedford and Greensburg. The rider, as was proposed, left Greensburg
every Saturday morning, and passed through Youngstown, Laughlintown,
Stoystown, etc., etc., reaching Bedford on Sunday evening. He also carried
mail to patrons on the way, somewhat after the manner of our present rural
carriers, and for this he received extra compensation.

It was the custom then, as now, for the postmaster to advertise unclaimed
letters. The following is a list that appeared in the Greensburg Register Oc-
tober I, 1798, and shows the method of addressing letters when we had but few
postoffices :

"Hugh Abbercrombery, Blacklick Settlement, Armstrong township."

"Alichael Berr}', three miles from Greensburg, near Brush Creek, care of
Mr. Clark in Greensburg."

"Rev. Matthew Henderson, at the Forks of the Yough, care of John Kirk-
patrick, Greensburg."

"James Welsh, Judge, Quemahoning township, near Laurel Hill, care of
Col. Rudgers Taylor, Greensburg."

Quemahoning township is in Somerset county, about thirty miles from
Greensburg. The Forks of the Yough is most nearly represented by the pres-
ent location of IMcKeesport.

Colonel Morgan, an Indian agent appointed by Congress, is generally re-
garded as the first man who crossed the Allegheny mountains in a carriage, but
he did not traverse our county. That honor is due to Dr. Schoep, who was a
German physician and naturalist. He crossed over the mountains on the
Forbes road in 178.^. After returning to Germany he published an account of
his trip, which w^as printed in 1788 and has been translated. From it we learn
that his carriage was a great curiosity all the way westward. As he passed the
lonely cabins in the wilderness, the women and children came to look with won-
der and admiration at this new and peculiar method of travel. When he ar-
rived in Pittsburgh his carriage was for days the chief object of interest in the
village. He says that "Many well dressed gentlemen and highlv adorned ladies
•came to his tavern to see it."

All wagons and carriages in that early period were necessarily clumsy af-

HISTORY OF U'ESTMORELAXD COUNTY

239

fairs. The tires on the wheels were put on in sections, each section being
about the one-eighth of a circle, and they were bolted to the felloe, or wooden
part of the wheel, which alone necessitated great heavy wheels, and all other
parts were made in proportion.

The first line of coaches was put on the road by the way of Lancaster, Har-
risburg, Carlisle, Bedford, Stoystown, Somerset, Greensburg and Pittsburgh,
in about 1804, but it was neither successful nor regular. The trip took about
seven days, and the roughness of the roads precluded the possibilitv of driving
at night. In 1805 a mail coach was put on the road, to go east as far as Cham-
bersburg, for from that place east the mail facilities were much better. Its
coming was widely heralded and the citizens collected to see it. Doubtless
thev, like we, wondered if the next generation would witness such vast improve-
ments as the past had wrought. But the same generation, when yet young,
saw the present turnpike completed and could ride from Pittsburgh to Philadel-
phia in two and a half days by riding at night.

There was then no road between Somerset and Greensburg, and a petition
was presented to the legislature for state aid in the construction of such a high-
way. They represented that two chains of mountains with but few settlers in-
tervened between the two places, and that the travel was very great. The sum
of $800 was appropriated for this road, and it was constructed at once. The
Westmoreland part of this road was known as the Felgar road, it taking its
name from a man who kept a tavern on the top of Laurel Mountain. In 1809
a road was projected from Somerset to Jones' mills, INIount Pleasant and Con-
nellsville.

The great road in Westmoreland county was the turnpike, which passes
nearly through its center, running east and west. It had two corporate names
in our county. The western section was known as the Pittsburgh and Greens-
burg Turnpike Company, and the eastern section as the Greensburg and Stoys-
town Turnpike Company. Its history dates back to February 24, 1806, when
the legislature authorized the governor of Pennsylvania to incorporate a com-
pany to build a turnpike from the west bank of the Susquehanna at Harrisburg
to Pittsburgh. The act provided that the road should be called the Harrisburg
and Pittsburgh Turnpike Company. But, by an act passed March 31, 1897,
supplementing the act of 1806, it was arranged that it should be built in sec-
tions, and that each section should be a complete company or corporation. The
second act also fi.xed the route through Carlisle, Shippensburg, Chambersburg,
McConnellsburg, Bedford, Stoystown, and Greensburg,

The Northern Turnpike, so called to distinguish it from the Greensburg
pike, had its origin in an act of March 20, 1787, which provided for the making
of a road from the Frankstown branch of the Juniata river to the Conemaugh
river. It came into our county a short distance west of Blairsville. In an act
of 1800 its location was changed somewhat so that its final course was through
New Alexandria, New Salem, and Murryville. These roads became rivals in
their construction, and this verv much delaved the building of either of them

240

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

for tlie reason that a later act of Assembly authorized the Governor of the Com-
monwealth to subscribe $300,000 on the part of the state to any Turnpike Com-
pany when there should be $150,000 subscribed by the citizens of the counties
through which the turnpike passed. Both companies wanted the $300,000
state subscription. Finally commissioners were appointed by the governor to
go over the routes and determine which should be taken up by the state. These
commissioners reported in favor o.f the Greensburg route, and they extended the
time for building the road for three years from April 2, 181 1. By an adver-
tisement in the Greensburg Register of May 20, 1812, the books of the company
were opened for stock subscriptions at the house of Simon Drum, Sr., on June
3rd, at 10 o'clock. In 1816 another notice appears offering to let contracts for
certain sections of it yet unfinished. The road was built accordingly and was
completed through Westmoreland county in 1818, parts of it having been in
use a year or so earlier. The name turnpike, as applied to a road, originated
from the fact that a pike or pole was placed across the road at the toll house,
which prevented the traveler from passing until he paid his toll, when the pike
or pole was turned around, and he was allowed to pass through. As its name
indicated, this was a toll road, and from the proceeds the stockholders were to
be paid their dividends. Toll was collected about every twelve miles, and
though the rates may have varied somewhat under different managers, the fol-
lowing list of rates does not vary much if any from the amounts charged
throughout its entire life as a toll road :

RATES OF TOLL ON THE STOYSTOWN AND GREENSBURG

TURNPIKE ROAD : FOR EVERY TEN MILES ON SAID ROAD :

For Swine, Sheep and Cattle, viz. :

For every score of swine 6 cents

For every ]/> score of swine 3 cents

For every score of sheep 6 cents

For every 1/2 score of sheep 3 cents

For every score of cattle 10 cents

For every J4 score of cattle 5 cents

For every horse or mule, laden or unladen, led or drove 6 cents

For every sulky, chair or chaise, with one horse 12 cents

For every chair, coach, phaeton chaise, sulkey and light wagon with

two horses 25 cents

For either oj them, with four horses 50 cents

For every other carriage of pleasure it may go to like sum according

to the number of horses drawing the same.

For every sleigh or sled, for each horse 6 cents

For every csrt, wagon or other carriage of burthen the wheels of which

do not in breadth exceed four inches, per horse 12 cents

For every cart, wagon or other carriage of burthen the wheels of which

do exceed in breath four inches, per horse 8 cents

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 241

And when any such carriage aforesaid, the whole or part is drawn by oxen,
two oxen shaU be estimated as equal to one horse in charging the aforesaid toll.

EXCEPTION.

No Toll shall be demanded froni any person or persons passing or re-passing
from one part of their farm to another. Nor from any persons attending
funerals, or going to and from places of worship.

(Republican-Democrat Print, Greensburg.)

The building of a turnpike road was quite a big undertaking for that day
and generation, fully as much so as the building of a railroad across the state is
with us. It was moreover of great importance to the people, and improved our
county more than any other highway prior to the construction of the Pennsyl-
vania railroad. Next to the National Pike advocated so long by the matchless
Henry Clay, it was the most complete road of any extent in Western Pennsyl-
vania in its day. It wound over mountains and through fertile valleys, and on
it was displayed some very good engineering. It has been censured because in
some places it passed over hills, when it might have gone over lower and more
level ground. But the object of the engineer was to secure dry ground, to
pass through rich sections of farm land, and through hamlets which might be-
come busy centers of population, thus affording traffic for the road. Some-
times they were compelled to pass over a hill, or forfeit the subscription of a
wealthy landowner. Then our low grounds were covered with timber and were
much more marshy than they are now, and the popular idea of road construct-
ing was to keep on high and dry groimd. The funds for its construction were
limited. With these matters being considered, we doubt whether its general
location could have been much better than it was. The engineering is much
better in the mountains than through the agricultural sections, owing to the
above reasons. There is perhaps only one place in its course through Chestnut
Ridge where it could be improved. Going up the western side of Laurel Hill
and zigzaging down the more precipitous eastern slope, its course could not be
improved by our best modern engineers. Likewise it passes over the Allegheny
mountains, going up the western side in a straight line for seven miles, and
passing down the eastern side by a system of curves and turns which our ad-
vanced science of engineering would not in any way improve on. In the
mountains the engineers were free to select the best routes, and they should be
judged by their work there rather than b\ such parts as they could not locate
exactly where they thought proper.

CHAPTER XVII.

The Westmoreland Soldiers in the War of 1812.

The war of 1812 was indeed a small affair to our nation compared with
the Revolution, and consequently has never been fraught with much interest
to the American people. Yet it was a war of heroic deeds, and by its suc-
cessful termination we not only won the right for which we contended, but
added greatly to our civil and military glory among the nations of the world.

After the Revolution, though we had fairly won our freedoin, yet England
scarcely realized that we were one of the civil powers. For a quarter of a
century the Mother Country treated us as though we were a few struggling
colonies whose rights in America were conceded by them, but whose rights
on the oceans were' still retained by England. They accordingly assumed
rights on the seas which they did not presume to exercise when dealing with
other governments. One of these unwarranted powers which they assumed
was that of overhauling American vessels on the high seas and searching them
for men who had deserted the English naval service, and in this they neces-
sarily committed many outrages upon our ocean trade. These may not have
been authorized by the English government, but it was responsible for them,
and practically admitted its responsibility by defending them.

For many years our government protested most vehemently against this
right of search. The people of the United States were much aroused over
it. In various ways Great Britain advanced her assumed prerogative on
the seas and greatly restricted our commerce. This was carried on till 181 1,
when, because of the growing trouble. Congress was called together a month
earlier than usual. On due consideration it sustained President Madison,
who had almost declared England guilty of offensive actions, and prepara-
tions were made for war. On June 12 the President laid before Congress
the official correspondence relative to the subject, and all hope of a settle-
ment without war was dissipated. Madison drew one of the best of his
many strong papers in enutnerating our grievances. Everything seemed to
point to war, and accordingly, on June 18th, 1812, Congress declared war
against Great Britain. Congress also took measures to increase the regular

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 243

armv to 35.000 men, and a much larger volunteer army of one year enlist-
ments was to be raised, equipped and put in the field.

Simon Snyder was governor of Pennsylvania. He had great courage
and executive ability, and had in his makeup much of the old-time Revolu-
tionary spirit. The Pennsylvania militia was therefore organized by him
at once. Our state was to furnish 14,000 militia on the one-year enlist-
ments, beside our share of the proposed regular army of 35,000.

Again the British allied themselves with their old companions in crime,
the Indians, and a large force of Indians appeared on Lake Erie opposite
the town of Erie. At this the whole of Pennsylvania was aroused, expect-
ing an invasion of the western part, at least, to follow. Accordingly the
militia of that portion of the state was sent there, and took part in the now
world-famous naval battle of Oliver Hazard Perry, which settled the Eng-
lish and Indians in that section. It will be remembered that before Perry
could fight the English on water he had to cut down trees and construct a
navy. The main forces who guarded these preparations were from Western
Pennsylvania, and they were ready to support him in any emergency, eitlier
on land or on sea.

The English had an army in the region of Baltimore, and man}- of our
soldiers were sent there, particularly after the British army under General
Ross burned the National Capitol, but there was very little fighting done
in that section by our troops. Still others were sent to the northwest and
placetl under command of General William Henry Harrison. It was in
that army that our Westmoreland soldiers did most duty.

In considering this war we must always remember that we were yet at
enmity with the Indians, though not here in the East as we had been during
the Revolution. They had been driven west to Indiana, Illinois and jNIich-
igan. We had soldiers from Westmoreland who fought with Harrison at the
famous battle of Tippecanoe. So, also, it must be remembered that the Eng-
lish army was fighting us on the extreme southern border, where General
Jackson defeated Packenham at the battle of New Orleans, after peace
had been declared between the two countries. So the war was raging in
every direction.

General Hull was at this time governor of the Territory of Michigan,
and was in command of an army of volunteers who were warring with the
Northwestern Indians. When he heard that war had been declared against
"England he foolishly, and on his own authority, led his army across from
Michi.Tan into Canada, to "invade the enemy's country." But the British
immediately sent forces there who, with much more experience and skill
in military matters, so encompassed the field that Hull surrendered 1,700
trooi)s to about 700 British and 600 Indians. The surrender also included
great stores of military supplies and provisions, which were sent there at
.•great expense to support his army. This weakened our cause -a great deal,

244 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

for hundreds of troops became discouraged and deserted. In fact, de-
sertions, were more numerous in the war of 1812 than in any other of the
five wars in which we as a nation have been engaged, and in this, too, West-
moreland county did its share.

But, on the other hand, the surrender of Huh did us good. The mem-
ory of the Revohition was then fresh in the minds of our people. Often in
those days had a small, starving, poorly equipped army of American soldiers
escaped from or even taken captive a larger and stronger force. But here
the larger army surrendered to the smaller and weaker one, and it aroused
the people in every section of the Union. As a result we had, after Hull's
surrender, more men in Western Pennsylvania and in our county wanting
to enlist than could be accepted. Refreshed in his memory of the events of
the war by these general remarks the reader, we trust, will better understand
the part taken by our Westmoreland troops.

There were several companies formed here a few years before the war,
when trouble was brewing and war clouds were overhanging America. The
most prominent one of these companies was a rifle company in Greensburg,
of which John B. Alexander was the leading spirit as well as the captain.
This company was organized by authority of Thomas McKean, governor of
Pennrylvania, in 1807, and was enlisted for four years. In 181 1 their time
had expired, and another commission was issued by Governor Simon Snyder,
authorizing Alexander to raise another company. The second was largely
composed of re-enlistments from the first. Alexander himself had been
brought up in the military town of Carlisle, where from long before the Rev-
olution the government had continuously kept a barracks. He had there-
fore from boyhood imbibed a martial spirit. In four years he had drilled
his company most completely, so that when the war at last came he had
ready for the field a company of thoroughly drilled men. Alexander him-
self was a lawyer of high standing at the Westmoreland bar. Some have
thought proper to write him as the ablest lawyer who has yet practiced
regularly before the Westmoreland courts. Being only about eight years
at the bar before the war of 1812, his great prominence as a lawyer was
achieved mostly after its close.

On June 6, 1812, in conformity with a resolution passed by the company,
Alexander tendered his company of riflemen to William Eustis, Secretary
of War under President Madison. In this letter he says the company con-
sists of one captain, two lieutenants, four sergeants, two corporals, two mu-
sicians and forty-five rank and filemen. He further says they are all uni-
formed and equipped for service, except that their rifles were of various
lengths, weight and calibre, such as are in general use in the country, and
suggests that uniform ones be furnished them. This letter is endorsed as
"Sent copy to Sec'y, enclosed to Wm. Findley, Esq." By a letter of Julv
15 the company was accepted. By letter of September 5th thev were noti-

^y^Jla^^J^^^

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 245

fied that the frontier in Western Ohio was in such a deplorable condition,
owing to General Hull's surrender, that they should hold themselves in
readiness to march there at once. On September 11 the order was sent for
them to march to Cleveland, Ohio, or wherever else the northwestern army
should be when they reached that locality. The destination was changed
after they reached Pittsburgh, by order of William Henry Harrison. The
order was as follows :

Gentlemen : You will proceed with yonr companies to this place immediately and
remain here imtil you receive further orders.

To Captains Alexander and Butler, William Henry Harrison.

Pittsburgh, Pa. Franklintown, Ohio.

Harrison's object in this military campaign was a twofold one. First,
he wanted to oppose the British army, and second to protect the frontier
from Indian incursions. The immediate purpose of this move was to war
against the Indians.

Pentland, a minor officer of the Pittsburgh Blues, kept a journal of their
marches southwestward. From it we learn that Alexander's company, with
Butler's, encamped on the night of September 10 on Grant's Hill, now in
Pittsburgh. Then they marched one mile, he says, and crossed the Ohio
river, where they were compelled to wait for boats till September 23, when
thev got ofif down the Ohio. They passed Beaver on the 24th, Steubenville
on the 25th, and reached Wheeling on the 26th. On October ist they passed
Marietta and Gallipolis. On Sunday, October 11, Alexander's boat struck
a snag and was abandoned. The companies finally landed at Cincinnati,
on October 14, and camped two miles below. From there they marched
through the country by Lebanon, Xenia, Yellow Springs and Springfield,
and finally joined the Northwestern army at Franklintown, as directed by
General Harrison.

Their first attack was directed against the Indian town on Mississinewa
river, about fifteen miles above its junction with the Wabash. On the
i8th of November they fought the battle of Mississinewa, and completely
destroyed the town, but not many of the Indians were killed. From there
Harrison ordered Alexander's company against several smaller towns among
the Indians and they were promptly destroyed. Afterwards they marched
to the Upper Sandusky and were joined to the command of Colonel Camp-
bell.

In this connection we must not forget Rev. William Swan's letter to the
soldiers in Alexander's command. It is unique, but doubtless expressed the
feeling of that day. Rev. Swan was pastor of the Long Run Church at
that time, and wrote as follows :

"Please inform the unmarried gentlemen of the comp.Tny that the wives of tho = e who
are married are not alone pleased with and proud of the patriotic conduct of their hus-

246 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

bands. The young ladies so admire the manly fortitude and patriotic spirit which they
have manifested that some of them have expressed a determination to wait for husbands
initil they return ; and that they would prefer the brave soldier for a husband, ex-^n
though he should have but one eye and one arm."

The journey connected with the battle of Mississiniwa was an extremely
severe one. On leaving the camp at Franklintov^fn, Ohio, General Harrison
addressed the troops in a most patriotic vein, and foretold great things of
them, for he said he considered them the flower of the army. It was very
cold weather. The troops were warned that it was a hard march and
withal a perilous venture, and were told that if any felt timid about it they
should remain at camp. They crossed the partly frozen Miami river with
great dilificulty. At New Lexington they received the last supply of forage.
Each man was furnished with one bushel of corn to be carried on his horse.
There were about six hundred troops in the party, and great care was
taken to instill in them a spirit of caution, for they were to penetrate a wilder-
ness infested with Indians and were guided only by spies. In the same
locality the army of the "brave but unfortunate St. Clair" had been cut
to pieces by the same treacherous enemy who, in addition, were now aided
by the British. The weather grew colder, and most of the streams and
swamps were crossed on the ice. The snow was about six inches deep. On
the night before the battle, December 17, they marched all night, and in
the morning attacked the Indian town of Mississiniwa. Without great
difficulty they drove the Indians away and destroyed their houses. Aftet
the troops under Major Alexander had returned from destroying the towns
down the river, they all encamped in the snow without shelter, and the night
was bitter cold. The officers feared an attack, and were determined that
they would not be surprised by the enemy. But little rest was gained by
anyone, for half the forces were on guard duty all night. At three o'clock
there was an alarm, and all were ready, but it proved to be false. Shortly
before daylight the real attack came. It was a heavy volley from the Indians,
and was accompanied as usual with terrific yells. Captain Hopkins' troops
were closely pressed, and were promptly relieved by the Pittsburgh Blues
under the gallant Colonel Butler. Captain Markle's company came in, and
all united in a charge against the Indians and drove them away. It was
then about daybreak, and they returned to find the wounded and dying
lying in the snow and almost overcome with cold. There were about forty-
four killed and wounded, and another attack with reinforcements was mo-
mentarily expected.

The situation was appalling. They were ninety-six miles from the set-
tlement, and the increased cold had greatly reduced their rations. They
proceeded at once to bury their dead soldiers in the frozen ground. Litters
were made for the twenty-seven wounded, and they started for headquarters
on the i8th. They fortified their camp at night with logs and brush, and

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 247

kept fires burning to keep the troops from freezing. They straggled into
Dayton December 24, and were given a royal welcome. They had left the
town in high glee two weeks before. They had greatly weakened the enemy
yet it had been at a fearful cost.

The muster roll of the company was as follows :

John B. Alexander, captain ; Christian Drum, Heutenant ; Peter Drum, ensign ; Richard
Hardin, ist sergeant; John Jameson, 2nd sergeant; Peter Fleeger, 3rd sergeant; Henry
Hawkins, 4th sergeant ; Adam Kettering, corporal ; William Richards, corporal ; Jacob
Gossert, drummer. Privates — Samuel Singer, Leonard Miller, Henry Miller, Daniel
Miller, Jacob Sickafoos, George Sickafoos, George Myers, Adam Williams, Henry Barton,
Robert Thompson, Isaac Keck, John Wingart. Jacob Rupert, Frederick Stewart, Jonas
Keel, Abraham Weaver, Samuel McLean, William Cassiday, James Thompson, John Rice,
Edward Shelletto, John Collins, Jonas Kneemier, James Taylor, Jacob Wingart, Solomon
Dehaven, George Sheeffer, Benj. Jameson, William Kernes, William Singer, John Mit-
chell, Daniel Rugh, John Shuey, Peter Walter, William Vandyke.

There was another company, a cavalry organization, sent out from West-
moreland. It was raised by Captain Joseph Markle, the ancestor of the
Markle family at West Newton. This company was raised largely in Sewickley
township. They left Greensburg for Pittsburgh on September 29, 1812,
and from there went to Urbana, Ohio. Everywhere in the old writings Cap-
tain Markle's company of cavalry is highly spoken of for its good behavior,
both in camp and when in action, and also on account of its fine appearance.
It is moreover on record that General Harrison regarded it as the finest
company of troops in the volunteer service of the Northwestern army. They
are mentioned many times as participating in engagements under Major
Ball, and are always spoken of in the highest terms.

On December 18 they were, attacked by several hundred Indians, who
had collected from the surrounding territory. As usual they had concealed
themselves in the forest near by the camp. But the cavalry company made
a charge on them, and they were soon driven from their concealed positions.
In this engagement Lieutenant Daniel Alartz, of the Markle cavalry, was
killed. The cavalry troops and Lieutenant Waltz both received the highesc
praise for bravery in this action.

The American army had troops at Fort Wayne, and the object of the
expedition was to drive the Indians away from that section so that they
could not interfere with a free passage from the settlement to the troops.
The purpose was to break up parties and drive them to Michigan so that
they could not unite and surprise the troops at Fort Wayne or elsewhere.
For this reason our Westmoreland troops had been sent away from the
main army, and when the work was to a great extent accomplished they
returned to the army. It was a very severe though brief campaign, for they
suffered from cold, from hunger and from hard marching. Nearly two
hundred of them had their feet frozen. The loss to the Indians was very
great in men. houses and property, and they suffered still more from hunger

248 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

and cold. It has bpen called one of the ablest managed campaigns of the war.

On January 9, 1813, Captain Alexander was put in command of the
battalion composed of his own, Butler's and McRae's companies, and he
was commissioned a major of infantry by President Madison.

The muster-roll of the cavalry company raised and commanded by Cap-
tain Joseph Markle, and which did splendid service, is as follows :

Joseph Markle, captain; Humphrey Fullerton, 1st lieutenant: Jacob Markle, 2nd
lieutenant : William Thompson, cornet ; Jno. C. Plumer, sergeant ; Samuel H. Daily, ser-
geant; Samuel Davis, sergeant; Samuel Miller, sergeant; Robert Skelly, -corporal ; Henry
Breneman, corporal; James Ryan, corporal; Robert M. Grififin, corporal; James Sinith,
Sadler; George Frigs, farrier; James Alexander, trumpeter. Privates — John Becket,
John Bennett, James Brickenridge, Robert Cooper, Joseph Chambers, John Conner, Jno.
C. Carpenter. Edward Cook, Daniel Flemming, Samuel Hamilton, ■ Jacob Hessaul,
Stephen Lowry, William Logue, William McClurg, Jonathan McClintock, John McClain,
Nathan Magrew, William Miller, John McCommont, Isaac McCommont, Stephen Rowan,
Johnathan Robeson, John Redick, James Selby, Samuel Selby, Samuel Stofiet, Joseph
Byerly, James McBride, David Hall, Samuel Rodger, John Gilbert, William Newsum,
Thomas Brandt, William Mitchell, Robert Thompson.

Early in the year 1813 General Harrison determined to recapture the
territory in Michigan which had been held by the English since General
Hull's strange surrender. To do this he had to extend his line of forts. In
furtherance of this scheme Fort Meigs was erected on the Maumee river,
near where General Wayne had defeated the Indians in 1794. This fort
was left in command of General Leftwich, with his own Virginia troops and
two hundred and fifty Pennsylvanians. Shortly after this the enemy began
to assemble in the region of Fort Meigs, which was situated on rising
ground and surrounded by timbered prairies. When the enemy began to
appear General Leftwich and his Virginia troops left the fort, most likely
because their time of enlistment had expired. There was as yet no con-
centrated army to prevent their going. The Pennsylvania troops, though
their term of enlistment had also expired, determined to remain and defend
it. When General Harrison learned of these movements he hastened for-
ward with' relief forces, and these raised the strength of the fort to about
twelve hundred. They all worked night and day to strengthen the fort. On
April 28 the British army appeared in a concentrated force. Orders were
sent to General Green Clay, who was bringing on fifteen hundred Kentucky
volunteers, to hasten his journey to Fort Meigs. The British and their
Indian allies began at once to entrench themselves, and the American army
under General Harrison were not idle by any means. On May 3rd the
armies began to storm each other with cannon, but with little effect on either
side. On May 4 the British were reinforced, and General Harrison learned
to his great joy that General Clay was approaching, coming down the river
in open boats with his 1500 troops, which he hoped to land in front of Fort
Meigs about four o'clock in the morning of May 5th. Harrison was not

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 249

slow in strategic warfare. He sent word to Clay to land about half of liis
forces as he came down the river, and have them quietly gain the rear of
the British fortifications. At the proper time, while the enemy would nat-
urallv be giving their attention to the remainder of Clay's forces, and when
Harrison from near his own fortress would be storming them. Clay's landed
troops were to assault the fortress from the rear, destroy their wagons, spike
their guns, and do all the damage they could, and then take their boats and
pull for Fort Meigs. Clay's main forces were to come on down the river
and enter the fort. Clay was delayed till about eight o'clock in the morning,
and his forces w'ere severely attacked by a band of savages as they were
entering the fort, the morning of i\Iay 5, 1813. Major John B. Alexander,
with his Pennsylvania troops, was ordered to protect them when thev sliould
land. The Indians increased, and Alexander's troops charged tliem with
bayonets and forced them back about a half mile, while Clay's troops dis-
embarked and entered the fort.

The part of Clay's forces which had landed up the river was under the
command of Colonel Dudley, a daring officer of sufficient skill and executive
ability to successfully carry out the scheme. They gained the rear of the
enemy and at the proper time by a furious attack had captured their four
batteries and put them to flight before they realized the situation. Their
guns were spiked, their carriages cut to pieces, and the red cross of St.
George was hauled down. Then Dudley, always cool-headed, ordered an
immediate retreat to the boats and Fort Meigs as had been prearranged.
But the soldiers were wild with joy and excitement over their unprecedented
victory. In place of obeying orders they madly pursued the enemy. The
English soon recovered themselves. After being routed from their fortifi-
cations they united with a band of Indians and quietly awaited the approach
of Dudley's reckless forces. They exposed a few Indians and British, who
drew them into the proper locality. The batteries taken by Dudley's men
had in their excitement been left lightly gtzarded. Dudley's men were cut
off from the fortress they had taken, and the British and Indians easily
overpowered the guard left there. It was a victory fairly won by brave
troops, but thrown away through ?. reckless disobedience. The Americans
in charge of the fortifications resisted bravelv wdien the British came back,
but were nearly all killed or wounded. Fifty of them were killed and seventy
wounded. About five hundred of Dudley's troops were taken prisoners and
only one hundred and fifty of them escaped. These fought their way to the
boats and entered Fort Meigs. Colonel Dudley, while trying to cut through
the lines and gain the boats, was mortally wounded. After he fell he killed
an Indian assailant and then himself expired.

Then the Indians began to murder the prisoners under the eye of the
British General Proctor, who had not nianhood enough to even attempt to
stop it. In the midst of the slaughter came the greatest Indian warrior of

250

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

his age, and, next to Pontiac, the greatest leader of the Indian race, Tecum-
seh, who had been engaged in another part of the battle. He stopped their
bloody work at once, saying that no defenseless prisoners should be killed
when he commanded.

When Dudley began his attack on the batteries, Harrison was carrying
out his part of the program to the letter. Alexander's battalion had acquit-
ted themselves so nobly in protecting Clay's landing that Harrison at once
assigned them to Colonel John IMiller's forces to storm the British fortifi-
cations. There were under Miller the Pittsburgh Blues, the Peterson Rifles
and the Pennsylvania Volunteers, among whom were the Westmoreland sol-
diers. The part of the_fortification which they meant to and did attack was
the side next to the river, for in doing so they would not interfere with
Dudley's command in their work at the rear. They were opposed largely
by Indians under the command of Tecumseh and his brother, and there were
also five companies of British troops. The American army numbered only
350, for that was all that General Harrison could spare from the fort for that
part of the attack. They charged the British and Indians, numbering about
1 1 50, routed them from their concealment, killed and wounded many of
them, and drove the remainder into the woods. The attack, though against
great odds, succeeded admirably; they also took forty-three prisoners.

Then the English General Proctor sent a request to have Harrison sur-
render, but this was indignantly refused. Proctor's army was in a bad con-
dition. Thev had provisions, but no wagons. Their four cannon had been
rendered useless by Dudley's men. They had also lost more men than the
enemy whom they attacked and whom they hoped to annihilate. .\n ex-
change of prisoners was asked for and granted by Harrison. On }ilay 9th
the British army moved oflF under a heavy fire on the part of the Americans.
Thus ended the siege of Fort Meigs, which had lasted about two weeks.
Had Dudley's soldiers obeyed orders it would undoubtedly have resulted in
one of the most brilliant victories of American arms. Even as it was, our
army did most glorious work. Our loss was 131 killed and 259 wounded. Gen-
eral Harrison made special mention of the gallant conduct of the 350 meiv
under Miller and Alexander.

A detachment composed of the Pittsburgh Blues, Petersburg \'olunteers
and the Westmoreland soldiers, in all about one hundred and sixty men, were
sent to the Lower Sandusky, where there was a stockade fort commanded
by Major George Crogan, an extremely youthful but brave officer. On Au-
gust 1st, 1813, the fort was surrounded by five hundred British soldiers under
Proctor and about eight hundred Indians, besides a large number of Indians
who were stationed outside to intercept any reinforcements to the fort. Proc-
tor then sent a demand for surrender under a flag of truce, and warned them
that they should be butchered if they compelled him to take the stockade by
force. Crogan, young as he was, had plenty of the true soldier spirit, and his;

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 251

soldiers were mostly voung and spirited like their commander. He first learned
that their sentiments were all in favor of holding out as long as possible,
and then sent an answer declining to surrender. To the threat, he an-
swered that when the fort was taken there would be none left to butcher, as
it would not be given up while one man was left able to fight. The firing
began at night from the enemy in boats on the bay. It was soon discovered
that the enemy fired on one angle of the fort alone, intending doubtless to
effect an entrance there when sufficiently weakened. Crogan had only one
cannon, and this he mounted in a position that it would rake the ditch sur-
rounding the fort, should the enemy attempt to climb over the palisades.
The fire was kept up all the next day, but Crogan's men put bags of sand,
and even bags of flour, in the angle aimed at, so as to prevent any serious
damage. At four o'clock they turned all their guns on this one angle, and
made the assault amid the clouds of smoke w^hich this heavy firing produced.
Two attempts were made by three hundred and fifty British soldiers, but each
time their ranks were thrown into confusion by the active firing from within.
They w-ere then led on by a brave officer. Colonel Short, and actually jumped
into the ditch. The porthole was opened at once, and the six-pounder, w'ithin
thirty feet of the men in the ditch, was fired. By this enfilading shot Colonel
Short and over fifty of his men were cut down, though some of them were
only wounded.- At the same time the rifles in the fort, perhaps one hundred
and fiftv of them, opened on the men in the ditch, and this soon compelled
them to retire, leaving the wounded behind. By this time darkness came.
The wounded begged for water, but their friends dare not venture near enough
to them to supply it. Major Crogan and his men handed them water over the
pickets. He also opened a hole under the pickets to the ditch, and many of
the wounded crawled through it into the fort. At three o'clock in the morn-
ing Proctor and his men quietly retreated down the bay, and in their haste
left a boatload of valuable supplies behind. They also left seventy stand
of arms and many braces of pistols. The Americans lost one killed and
seven or eight slightly wounded. The loss to the British was estimated at
one hundred and fifty or more, for over fifty were left in the ditch.

Nothing can better close this brief account of Westmoreland's troops in
the war of 1812 than a reprint of the order by which they were discharged
from further services. It is as follows :

Headquarters, Seneca Town, Aug. 28, 1813.
(After General Orders)

The Pittsburgh Volunteers, commanded by Captain Butler, and those of Greensburg
by Lieutenant Drum, of Major Alexander's battalion, having performed their services,
the General hereby presents them an honorable discharge.

The General has ever considered this corps as the first in the North Western Army.
Equal in point of bravery and subordination, it excelled in every other of those attain-
ments which form complete and efficient soldiers. In battle, in camp, and on the march,
their conduct has done honor to themselves and their country.

A. H. Holmes,
.^sst. Adj. General.

252

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY

The life and character of Major John B. Alexander has been considered
in the chapter entitled the Bench and Bar of Westmoreland.

Captain Joseph Markle, generally known to our generation as General
Markle, was born near West Newton, February 15, 1777. The genealogy
of the Markle family, which was quite a noted one, has been considered
elsewhere. A sketch of his life will be found among the prominent West-
morelanders elsewhere in these pages.

CHAPTER XVIII

Taverns. — Turnpikes. — Wagons. — Stage Coaches.

The public houses erected and used as taverns along the Forbes and the
State roads were very generally built of logs, and would not in our day be re-
garded as attractive hostelries. They are nearly all gone now, but were not
much better than the private houses of that period of house building. But
when the turnpike between Pittsburgh and Bedford was completed, a new era
in house building began. The pike was so thoroughly constructed, carrying
with it every evidence of permanency, that builders thought they might well
expend enough on their new houses to have them in keeping with the new age.
This perhaps applied no less to the public than to the private houses along the
way. Many specimens of both are standing yet, having withstood the storms
of nearly a century. They were built in advance of the style of their day.

When a village was laid out there was usually a pubhc square in the center,
and at least two corners of the square were set apart for taverns. These towns
and public houses followed the stage-coach lines and the wagon lines upon
which were transported nearly all of the passengers and goods between Phila-
delphia and Pittsburgh. The best men and women of our country traveled
back and ' forth along the turnpike, and their entertainment called for and
brought about a new and better style of hostelries. There was almost a con-
tinuous stream of four or six-horse wagons laden with merchandise going west,
and returning with the product of the west to supply the eastern cities. They
journeyed mostly between Philadelphia or Baltimore and Pittsburgh. Wagon-
ers generally stopped at the wayside tavern, which was less expensive than to
put up at the villages. They cared little for style, but demanded an abundance,
while the stage-coach passengers wanted both. The ^vagoner invariably slept
on a bunk which he carried with him, and which he laid on the floor of the big
bar-room and office of the country hotel. Stage drivers and their passengers
stopped at the best hotels and paid higher prices.

The public square, so common in many of the older Pennsylvania towns,
was not intended to be an ornament as it is now, but was for a special purpose.
There the wagons laden with freight stood over night, and as a general rule,

254

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY

in all kinds of weather. The horses were blanketed, fed and bedded in the
square also. For this purpose the wagoner carried a long trough which at
night he fastened with special irons on the tongue of the wagon, the end of
which was held up by a prop. There are few of our public scjuares which have
not thus been filled even to overflowing with wagons and horses. An old gen-
tleman told the writer that he had once seen fifty-two wagons in an unbroken
line going west on the Greensburg and Stoystown turnpike. These were
Conestoga wagons, with great bowed beds covered with white canvas, and it
must have taken a large stable-yard and square to stow them away for the
night wherever they stopped. The square of a wagon or stage road town was
usually from three to five hundred feet long, by perhaps two to three hundred
feet wide. Some old villages had two squares separated a short distance from
each other.

A requisite of the old fashioned wagon or stage town hotel, or of the way-
side tavern, was a large room used as an office, a bar-room, and a sleeping
place for the wagoners. In it was a large open fire-place which was abund-
antly supplied with wood in the early days, and later with coal. Around this,
when their horses were cared for and the evening diversion over, the wagoners
spread their bunks in a sort of semi-circle, with their feet to the fire. Colored
men drove wagons, but never became stage drivers. They stopped at the same
hotel with white wagoners, but never ate at the same table. Wagoners drove
in all kinds of weather, and the descent of a mountain or large hill was often
attended with great danger, when it was covered with ice, for instance. The
day's journey for a regular wagoner when heavily laden was rather less than
over fifteen miles, and one hundred miles in a week was more than the average.
To urge his horses on, or compel a lazy one to pull its share, the wagoner used
a large tapering wagon-whip made of black leather and about five feet long,
with a silken cracker at the end. The best whips were called Loudon whips,
made in a little town in Franklin county, named Loudon. The average load
hauled was about six thousand pounds for a six-horse team. Sometimes four
tons were put on, and even five tons, which the wagoner boastfully called "a
hundred hundred," were hauled, but these were the exceptions.

The wagons were made with broad wheels, four inches or more, so that
they would not "cut in" if a soft place was passed over. The standard wagon
was the "Conestoga." The bed was low in the center, and higher at each end.
The lower part of the bed was painted blue. Above this was a red board about
a foot wide, which could be taken off when necessary, and these, with the white
canvas covering, made the patriotic tri-color of the American flag, though this
was unintentional. Bells were often used in all seasons of the year, though not
strings of bells such as used now in sleighing. They were fastened to an iron
bow above the hames, and were pear-shaped, and very sweet-toned. They
perhaps relieved the monotony of a long journey over the lonely pike.

Wagoners always preferred to stop with a landlord who was a good fiddler,
— not a violinist, but "just a plain old-fashioned fiddler." Then, when the even-

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 255

ing work of the wagoner was over, an evening's dance in the dining-room or
bar-room was not an infrequent occurrence. Gathered together at one place
were the young maidens of two or three nearby taverns, or other neighbors, and
then to the music of the landlord's fiddle came the Virginia hoe-down, the
memory of which makes the old wagoner's eyes sparkle with joy even to this
day.

A youngs wagoner who saved his money did not always remain a wagoner.
Very soon he could own a team of his own, then another and another, until he
could purchase a farm with a "tavern stand" on it, or engage in other business.
Some of them became men of prominence as merchants and manufacturers in
Pittsburgh or elsewhere. One of the best known wagoners between Pittsburgh
and the east was Jacob Painter, who afterward became a business man of high
standing and great wealth in Pittsburgh. On one occasion he said that he had
"driven over the road many times, and knew every man, woman and child on
the way. I was welcome everywhere, and had plenty of enjoyment. Indeed,"
said he, "those were the happiest days of my life."

Gears, not harness, was the name used in that day, and they were so large
that they almost covered the horse. The backhands were often over a foot
wide, and the hipstraps as much as ten inches in width. The breeching of the
wheelhorses were so large and ponderous that they almost covered the hind-
quarters of the large horses. The housing was of heavy black leather, and
came down almost to the bottom of the hames. It required the strength of a
man to throw them on the back of a large horse. The wagoner's saddle was
made of black leather, with long wide flaps or skirts cut square at the bottom.
With the Conestoga wagoners originated our modern stogie cigars, which
have become so common among smokers. They were made of pure home-
grown tobacco, and, being used very largely, at first by the Conestoga wagon-
ers, took the name "stogies," which clings to them yet. There was no revenue
on them then, and, labor being cheap, they were retailed at three and four for
a cent. They are made now by the million in western Pennsylvania and in
'Wheeling, West Virginia. The wagoner smoked a great deal, perhaps to re-
heve the monotony of his life, but he very rarely drank liquor to excess, though
whisky was only worth three cents per drink and was free at most tavern
stands to wagoners. Landlords kept liquor, not to make money out of it, but
to accommodate the traveling public. There was on our old pike, it is said, an
average of one tavern every two miles between Pittsburgh and Bedford, yet
all put together outside of the city did not sell as much as one well patronized
bouse does now. In the corner of the bar-room of the county tavern was a
small counter, and back of this were kept several bottles labeled with the name
of the liquor they contained. The guest had his choice.

It may be somewhat surprising to the modern reader that the best of wagons
in the early days of our pike were not supplied with brakes, or rubbers to
enable the wagoner to move slowly going down a steep hill. Thev were not in
Aise till later in the history of the pike, and are said to, have been invented bv a

^

256

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

man named Jones, of Brownsville, on the old National pike. They were never
patented, but came into general use soon after the inventor first put them on a
wagon. In place of these the wagoner tied a hickory pole across his wagon,
so that the one end bore heavily on the wheel. Sometimes he cut a small tree,
which he tied to his rear axle and allowed it to drag behind, and thus descended
the hill safely. In winter v^'hen the pike was covered with ice, he used a
rough lock, which was a heavy linked chain tied around the wheel, and then he
tied the wheel when the chain touched the grovmd or ice.

Wagoning, as a business between the east and west, began about 1818. and
reached its highest point about 1840, or perhaps a year or so earlier. The busi-
ness of the pike declined very rapidly when the Pennsylvania railroad was
built, so that in 1853 it was almost a feature of the past. The canal across the
state, finished about 1829, also injured the wagoner's business, but it had little

SIX HORSE TEAM USED

EARLY TURNPIKE DAYS.

efifect on the stage-coach traffic. Most of the elderly men of the past few
years fi.x the highest point of travel and transportation on the pike as at about
1840. This was the year of the greatest political campaign in the nation's his-
tory, and this year is likely fixed by that event in the minds of the old-timer.
There is no reason why more business should not have been done in 1842,
though after that it began to decline. Our pike played a great part in the
campaign of 1840 — the Log Cabin Campaign. William Henry Harrison, the
hero of Tippecanoe, and grandfather of the late President Benjamin Harrison,
was the candidate of the Whig party for the presidency, while his Democratic
opponent was Martin Van Buren, of New York. Harrison had been born and
lived in a log cabin in Ohio, so the war cry on the part of the Whigs was
"Tippecanoe and Tyler, too," and this rang for months throughout the Union.
Business was actually almost suspended in many parts of the country. Penn-

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 257

svlvania was particularly the scene of great excitement. In Ligonier the
Whigs met and constructed a log cabin about twenty feet long, ten feet wide,
and eight feet high to the roof, and placed it firmly on a large Conestoga
wagon, after removing the bed. It had a regular sloping roof, doors, windows,
floor, etc., and the room within was bountifully supplied with hard cider,
and whisky. With eight horses they took this to places on the pike where big
meetings were to be held in the interests of the Whig party. Their longest and
most noted trip was to Somerset, where the assembled Whigs, numbering
thousands, were addressed by Charles (alias "Spoony") Ogle, whose eloquent
tongue was a power in every part of the Union in winning victory for the Whig
ticket. The leading spirit in constructing the cabin was Conrad George, who
lived nearly fifty years afterwards, and was always delighted to tell of it.

After wagoning a few years at this rate, the times demanded a faster method
of transportation between the east and west, and this brought about the Pitts-
burgh and Philadelphia Transportation Company. They introduced a system
of relays, that is, a change of horses about every ten or fifteen miles, by which
they kept the wagon going day and night from the beginning to the end of the
trip. When the tired team entered the relay station, a new team and another
driver took the wagon and moved on at once. The tired horses rested, and in
a few hours took a returning wagon of the same company back over the route.
These wagons were never heavily loaded, four thousand pounds being about
the heaviest they carried. The driver was expected to make on an average two
miles per hour. For freight thus delivered in less than half the time consumed
in the old way, merchants were willing to pay a much greater rate per pound.
It was rarely ever that a team was fed at the middle of the day, the morning
and evening meal being all they got. The rates of freight varied with the times.

The tollgate keeper took the toll from all who passed over the road, except-
ing officers or others who were entitled to free travel. To approximate the ex-
tent of travel it is hardly fair to take the record kept by gatekeepers in a popu-
lous community or near a growing town. But the gatekeeper on Chestnut
Ridge between Youngstown and Ligonier reported the following for the year
ending May 31, 1818, which was the first year- after the road was completed:
Single horses, 7,112; one horse vehicles, 350; two-horse vehicles, 501; three-
horse vehicles, 105: four-horse vehicles, 281; five-horse vehicles, 2,412; six-
horse vehicles, 2,698 ; one-horse sleighs and sleds, 38 ; two-horse sleighs and
sleds. 201 ; making a total of 38,599 horses for the first year of the pike. From
March i to March 20, in 1827, 500 wagons passed through the gate east of
Greensburg. On iMarch i, 1832, eighty-five wagons passed through the
same gate. On Alarch 12, 1837, ninety-two wagons passed through it and this
was one of the best days.

Wagoners often drove in companies of six or eight, and sometimes more.
In this way they could assist each other in any misfortune that might befall
them, and they were thus company for each other at night. It was not unusual
for a wagoner with a heavy load to, get two additional horses, making eight in

25S HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

all, to help him up Laurel Hill, or up any steep grade. These were furnished
at regular rates by a farmer or tavern keeper who lived near by, and who sent
a boy along to bring the team back.

Another feature of the old pike days was driving horses, cattle, sheep, and
sometimes hogs, to the eastern market. Then, as now, the west raised more
live stock than they needed, and they were made to walk east in droves. By
the west in that day was meant Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. J\Ien in the live-
stock business were called drovers. They bought up live stock of all kinds in
western Pennsylvania and in the states farther west, and drove them east on
the pike for Philadelphia and New York markets. Horses were taken east by
the score, and even by hundreds. They could be taken at almost any season
of the year, for they could be stabled and fed on hay at night. They were al-
ways led, that is, a man rode on one and led five or six others with halters.
They did not necessarily therefore go. in large droves. Hogs moved slowly,
and droves of them were not so common. A drove of hogs could only walk
from eight to ten miles per day. Droves of cattle and sheep were more numer-
ous, and during the summer months could be seen almost daily on any part of
the pike, all going east. Sheep were taken in droves of from three to six or
even ten hundred. They walked farther each day than hogs, but not so far as
horses or cattle. An average drove of cattle was about one hundred and fifty,
sometimes more or less. They paid toJl by the score, and less than a score
originally passed free. So occasionally a drover took east a herd of nine-
teen to avoid the payment of toll. These small droves were the exception,
however, for a larger number could be driven with about the same help. The
cattle were generally full grown, that is, from two to four years old. One large
steer, having a rope around his horns, was led by a boy, and the rest followed
him. After a few days' driving they followed the leader as though they had
been driven all their lives. In that day oxen were used more or less instead of
horses, for heavy drawing and farm work. When a yoke of oxen became old
they were frequently fattened and sent east with other cattle, so that the drove
often included a number of very large, long-horned steers. Behind the drove
followed a driver who kept the lazy cattle from lagging behind. The owner of
the drove generally rode on horseback. In the afternoon he rode on ahead to
look out a good field of pasture where they could be kept all night. They paid
the farmer a price which varied, but it was generally about three cents per
head for the night's pasture. A drove of cattle, particularly if they were heavy
animals, could not make more than twelve or fifteen miles per day. They plod-
ded along and at length reached the market, where, if they were fat enough,
they were slaughtered at once. As a general rule they gained in weight
rather than lost on the way east, particularly if the pasture was good and the
drover a careful one. The drover was paid in cash for his cattle, and this he
]iut in his saddlebags, and rode home to purchase another lot. The young
men who drove for him generally walked home and tried to reach there by the

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY

^59

time the drover had another lot of cattle collected and ready for the long
journey.

But the most romantic feature of the pike to our generation, as we look
back through the dim years to the forties, is the stage-coach. Xo one. it
is said, who ever saw a genuine old stage-coach in use, can forget it. The
outside of the coach was tastefully painted and beautified with bright colors,
while the inside was lined with soft silk plush. There were three seats
within splendidly cushioned, and three people could ride on each seat. There
was also another seat by the side of the driver, which was very desirable in

TVVEEN PITTSBURGH

fine weather. Then on the top, others could ride in a way, if the manage-
ment allowed it, and these in turn took the inside seats as they were vacated
in the journey. Thus sometimes a stage bore as hiany as fifteen people,
while its capacity was nine or ten and the driver. It was without springs,
as springs are now, but the bed or top part was swung on large leather
girders called thorough-braces, which were stretched between high bolsters
or jacks on the front and rear axles. Bv this arrangement stiff .springs were
obviated, and, whether heavily bden or nearly empty, the passenger rode

26o HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUXTY.

with equal ease, a feature of comfort which could not be obtained with our
modern springs of steel. This gave it, moreover, a gentle swinging back and
forth, or rocking motion, which was not by any means unpleasant to the
passenger. At the extreme rear of the stage was the boot, a three-cornered
leather-covered affair, in which baggage was carried. The driver sat high
up in front, swinging his long whip and handling the lines of the four
spirited horses with a grace and skill which has never been equaled since
his day.

The horses were invariably showy animals, selected because of their
lightness of foot, and yet they were strongly built. Most of them were of the
"North Star," the "Murat," "Hickory" or Winflo,wer" breed — strains which are
now extinct, but which for beauty of carriage, speed and endurance com-
bined, have not been surpassed by the best of our modern thorougjibreds.
They were driven very rapidly, generally making ten miles in an hour if
conditions were at all favorable. The object of the stage line was to speed
the passenger, and every possible arrangement was made to facilitate his
journey. To this end a system of relays was established all along the pikes
where stage-coach lines were operated. By this means fresh spans of horses
were hitched to the sfage-coach about every ten or twelve miles. With his
long whip the driver could touch his horses gently, or at his will lash them
into their highest speed. Under ordinary circumstances they made from
six to eight miles an hour, and by relays kept that speed up all day. The
mail stage stopped at the postoffices, at the relay stations, at taverns at meal
times to accommodate passengers, and not otherwise. They often came into-
Greensburg, Youngstown or Ligonier at a dead run, and drew up at the
principal tavern for fresh horses. There awaiting its arrival was the relay
of horses, each span held by a groom. The driver threw down the lines,,
the grooms unhitched the panting horses and "almost in the twinkling of an
eye," says an old stager, the new spans took their places, the lines were
handed to the driver, who, without leaving his seat, cracked his whip and
away rolled the coach for the next station. If it was at meal times the stay
was longer, but even then did not exceed twenty or twenty-five minutes.-
The mail coaches had to stop at the postoffices long enough to leave the in-
coming and secure the outgoing mail. This was called "changing the mail,"
a correct term in that age to signify the changing done by the postmaster.
But the word has come down to us so that we now often hear the word
"changed" used in country offices in place of the word "distributed," a re-
minder of the days of long ago. This changing of the mail took perhaps not
over five minutes, for letters were not so numerous then as now.

The main pike in Westmoreland county was, as we have said before, the
one running from Pittsburgh through Greensburg, Bedford. Carlisle, Harris-
burg, Reading, etc., to Philadelphia. On this highway in its popular days
there were regularly two or more daily stages each way, that is, two going

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUXTV. 261

east and two going west each day. Leaving Pittsburgh in the early morn-
ing, the coach reached Greensburg about ten o'clock, having already
exhausted three relays, that is twelve horses. Greensburg, to most
of the stage lines, was a relay station, with another at Youngstown, another
at Ligonier, etc. So bv rapid driving the passengers who left Pittsburgh
in the morning took dinner in Ligonier, having come fifty miles in about
si.x and a half hours. The next fifty miles took them to Bedford, but the
time occupied in the trip was much longer, for they had two ranges of moun-
tains to climb. The regular time between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia was
fifty-six hours, and a good line of stages invariably made it on time, or nearly
so. Of course there were more than two lines of stages on the eastern part
of the road where the more thickly populated districts gave rise to more
travel, and part of the time there were more than two on the western end.
Later in the day another stage line sent a coach out of Pittsburgh which fol-
lowed the first and kept up the same general rate of speed. This was kept up
from day to day, from one year's end to another.

One of these lines was called the United States Mail Line. It was owned
by a company which changed some of its members from time to time, but its
prominent and main owners were James Resides, Noah ]Mendell, Abraham
Harbaugh and Joseph Henderson. This line carried the mail, and while they
lost more or less time in waiting for the "changing" of the mail, they made it
np by a faster rate of speed at other times. Another line was called "The
People's Line," or the "Good Intent Line." Colonel Samuel Elder, William
^IcCall, and Samuel Ricker were its chief owners and proprietors. These
rival lines, as may be supposed, prompted each to give the best possible service
and a rapid passage from one end of the line to the other.

The fare from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia was twenty dollars. Passengers
generally changed coaches about every fifty miles. The heavier coaches were
used in the mountainous regions between Ligonier and Bedford, while the
newer and handsomer ones were near the cities at the beginning and the end
of the line. Teams were also arranged to suit the road, the heavier and
stronger ones being used to draw the coaches over the mountains, and the
most showy horses being near the cities. The relays of horses journeyed back
and forth over the same road, and thus learned its easy and hard places thor-
oughly. The four horses which hauled the morning stage to Youngstown then
rested from ten to twelve hours, when they hauled a west bound stage coach
back to Greensburg.

The coaches did not stop at night. Passengers were required to travel in
them night and day in a continuous passage, till they reached their destination.
Each driver had a given length of time to make his run from one relay station
to another, and he invariably made it on time. Going up the mountains in the
eastern part of the county, or up the Alleghenies, not infrequentlv the pas-
sengers got out to walk for exercise and to enjoy the beautiful scenery.

262 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

A stage driver never attended to his teams, though douhtless he assured
himself that they were well cared for. Xo position seemed so commanding in
the eyes of a boy as that of the stage driver. Many a youth looked forward
with bright anticipations to the time in manhood when he could reach that
acme of fame in his estimation, viz., the seat of a professional- stage driver.
He was paid about fifteen dollars per month and board, and the best of them
never received as much as twenty dollars per month, and that was considered
good wages in that day. A good horse could be purchased in those days for
fifty or sixty dollars, and a span of horses, with an occasional rest, was good
for eight or ten years. While they were being driven they were made to
strain every nerve. They went slowly up a hill or mountain where the pulling
was heavy. As soon as the top was reached, or a little before it, they started
off more rapidly, and on the level rarely ever went slower than a trot, while
down grade or down the mountain side they sometimes went on a steady
gallop. It was thus often that a stage driver coming east started his team on a
fast trot at the top of Laurel Hill, and made each horse strain every nerve
to keep out of the way of the stage, and thus kept up this speed for six miles
until the first hill was reached, more than a mile east of Laughlinstown. The
horses invariably came up to the relay stations panting and covered with foam,-
but they had then a rest of ten or eleven hours before another effort was-
required of them. There was very little holding back done by the wheel-horses
of the average stage-coach when going down a hill or down the mountains.
The wheel-horses, if made to hold back, in time became "sprung in the knees,"
and this was an evidence of bad driving.

The regularity of their arrival at given points was remarkable. It was
rarely ever that a coach was more than a few minutes either behind or ahead
of time. Excitement, therefore, followed the whirl of the stage-coach all along
the pike. The driver invariably carried a horn with a very highly keyed loud
sounding tone, which he winded at the brow of the last hill before entering a
village or town, to give notice of his approaching stage. New passengers, the
relay horses and the postmaster or the landlord, were all therefore ready and
waiting for its arrival. To the country villages the arrival of the stage-coach
was the leading event of the day, much more so than the arrival of an import-
ant train is to us. Loafers collected around the stations to learn the latest
news, or become acquainted with the newest arrival, should there be any.
Farmers and workmen along the pike stopped their work when the stage
passed by. They could regulate their work in a measure without a timepiece
for they knew the time that the stage was due to pass them.

Washington Irving took great interest in the stage driver and wrote of
him as follows :

"The stnge-driver Iiad a dress, manner, language and air pecnliar to himself and
prevalent thro'jghont the fraternity. He enjoyed great consequence and consideration
along the road. The women looked np to him as a man of great trust and dependence.

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUXTY. 263

and he had a good understanding with every brighteyed country lass. Kis duty was to
drive from one station to another, and on his arrival he threw^ down the lines to the
hostler with a lordly air. His uress was always showy, and in winter his usually bulky
form was further increased by a multiplicity of coats. At the villages he was surrounded
by a crowd of loafers, errand boys and nameless hangers-on, who looked UP to him as
an oracle and treasured up his cant phrases and opinions about horses and other topics.
Above all, they endeavored to imitate his air and rolling gait, his talk and slang, and the
youth tried to imagine himself an embryonic stage driver.

"The horn he sounded at the entrance of the village produced a general bustle, and his
passage through the country put the world in motion. Some hastened to meet friends,
some with bundles and bandboxes to secure seats, and in the hurry of the moment could
hardly take leave of the group that accompanied them. As the stage rattled through the
village everyone ran to the window, and the passenger had glances on every side of
fresh country faces and blooming giggling girls. At the corners were assembled the
village idlers and wise men, who took their station there to see the compan}- pass,"

The Stage-driver carried a long whip composed of a stock, lash and silk
cracker. The stock was made of hickory, heavy at the hand end, but tapering
till it was very slender and flexible at the lash end. It was about a yard long.
The lash was made of platted rawhide, and was much thicker at the upper mid-
dle than at the ends This shape and the flexible stock made it possible for the
driver to handle it by a series of curves and swings that were very accurate
and made it very severe in its work when he chose to make it so.
With years of practice they learned to handle the whip with great dexterity.
An old friend has assured the writer that he has often seen an expert knock
a fly from the back and shoulders and even from the necks of his leaders with
his whip and do it so gently that it would not injure the horse nor urge him to
greater speed. When the driver cracked this long whip over the horses, it
was like the report of a small gun, and without anything else urged every
horse to strain every muscle. It was seldom that a careful driver was com-
pelled to use the whip severely.

Sometimes when one line stage tried to pass another, then the driver used
his whip with all the skill he could command. Two stages abreast have more
than once gone down the mountain into Ligonier valley, going west, every
horse galloping and at his utmost speed, and the drivers lashing them to still
greater exertions. In a race of this kind the rumbling of the stages could be
heard for miles. The heavy bed with its tightly drawn sides and top, its
glass doors and the heavy thorough-braces laden to their utmost strength,
gave it at all times a rumbling noise, but when several of them were racing
or making time coming down a mountain, the road bed of which was stone,
the noise is said to have been terrific. If the driver knew his business well
there was little danger in such a race, and it was to the passengers one of the
most exciting events of their lives.

The old stage driver of a day gone by, has been written of in song and
story. We subjoin a fragment of verse found in a book entitled "Searight's
National Road," written, we believe, by Tames Newton -Matthews. These

264 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

verses were read on a recent occasion by one whose reading is not of the best,
to an old stage driver who was moved to tears by the memories they awakened :

"It stands all alone like a goblin in gray,
The old-fashioned inn of a pioneer day.
In a land so forlorn and forgotten, it seems
Like a wraith of the past rising into our dreams;
Its glories have vanished, and only the ghost
Of a sign-board now creaks on its desolate post,
Recalling the time when all hearts were akin
As they rested at night in that welcoming inn.

"Oh the songs thej' would sing and the tales they would spin,

As they lounged in the light of the old country inn.

But a day came at last when the stage brought no load

To the gate, as it rolled up the long, dusty road.

And lo ! at the sunrise a shrill whistle blew

O'er the hills — and the old yielded place to the new —

And a merciless age with its discord and din

Made wreck, as it passed, of the pioneer inn."

CHAPTER XIX

Canals.

At the close of the Revolution our people, as we have seen, began to agitate
the transportation question. The first result was the formation of state and
-county roads, which served their day and generation. Next after these came
the canals. Water always had been and perhaps always will be, the cheapest
:medium of transportation when practicable, and where speed was not a re-
quisite. Wind has been the great power which carried the wealth of the East
rto the old time centers of industry in western Asia and eastern Europe. But
this was out of the question as a motive power for internal navigation.

In honoring Robert Fulton as the father of steam navigation, it is generally
forgotten that he was an apostle of canal building prior to the invention so in-
separably connected with his name and fame. He was a native of Lancaster
county, and spent several years in England studying the question of internal
navigation. There he published a book illustrated with drawings of canal
boats, aqueducts, and locks for lifting and lowering boats. On his return to his
native land he urged canal building as a method of internal navigation
for the people of the United States. In a letter which he wrote to Governor
Penn, of Pennsylvania, he used these words : "The time will come when canals
shall pass through every vale, wind round every hill, and bind the whole coun-
try in one band of social intercourse." This became an oit-quoted sentence by
ithe early advocates of canal building as a means of internal improvement.

It nnist not be supposed that canals were then new in the world's history.
They had been used. in Egypt and China before the days of Julius Caesar, and
had for centuries been in use throughout Europe. But most of the places of
canals in Europe, although of ingenious conception, were not practicable in
America, and none were so valuable to us as those outlined and advocated by
Robert Fulton.

In 1791 a "Society for Promoting the Improvement of Roads and Inland
Navigation" was formed in our state, and it gave a great deal of attention to
the surveying of several routes across Pennsylvania by which the Delaware
river might be connected with the northern lakes. At that time the ^Mississippi
was closed to American commerce, for the Spaniards owned Louisiana, and they

266 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

were hostile to the United States. Xor was the situation improved bv its sale
to France. But when Thomas Jefferson purchased it from Napoleon Bona-
parte for the United States in 1803, thenceforth the great object sought bj- our
people was a water connection between the Delaware and the Ohio river. The
great utility of such an achievement is patent to any one who contemplates
our surroundings at that time. The "Louisiana purchase" meant more to
westerrl Pennsylvania then than we are likely to imagine now. It gave an
isolated section, rich in products, or, rather, rich in the possibility of its pro-
ducts, its first real outlet to the seaboard and to. the commerce of the world.
So the eastern sections of Pennsylvania, far in advance of us in wealth, became
greativ interested in a canal across our state, so that our products might not
reach them by sailing first westward on the Ohio river.

The canal from Buffalo to New York, was built largely through the efforts
of DeWitt Clinton, and was opened up on November 4, 1825. The result was
that the cost of carrying freight over -the route was reduced from $100 per ton
to $10 per ton. This awakened our people to the importance of a similar
waterway across Pennsylvania. The legislature took up the Cjuestio.n at once,
and had surveys made of all the principal rivers in order that the most prac-
ticable route might be selected. A canal across the Alleghenies was impossible,
but the gap was to be supplied by good roads across the mountains. Much
time was spent in trying to locate the canals on either side, so that the roads
crossing the mountains would be as short as possible. In 1824 the assembly
authorized the appointment of three canal commissioners to explore a route
from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh, and on April 11, 1825, they were appointed.
The Union Canal had already been built connecting the Schuylkill river with
the Susquehanna, its western terminus being near Harrisburg. The commis-
sioners appointed by the Governor reported the route by the Juniata and the
Conemaugh to be the most practicable. Accordingly, in 1826, the legislature
provided for the construction of the Pennsylvania Canal. It was to begin at
the western terminus of the Union Canal, and extend to the mouth of the
Juniata river. West oi the mountains it was to extend from Pittsburgh to the
mouth of the Kiskiminetas river, the object undoubtedly being that both the
Juniata and the Kiskiminetas rivers should be made navigable by slackwater.
The legislature appropriated three hundred thousand dollars, so that work
could be begun on it at once. This was done, and it was pushed so rapidly that
in 1827 the water was turned into the levels at Leechburg. Later the slack-
water projects for the navigation of the Juniata and Kiskiminetas rivers were
abandoned, and the canal, when completed, reached from the Susquehanna tO'
Holidaysburg, at the base of the eastern slope of the Alleghenies and from
Johnstown at the foot of the western slope to Pittsburgh. These canals were
managed by a board of canal commissioners consisting of three men appointed
by the Governor. The appointment was then one of the most important in.
the state .and almost invariably our leading business men were selected.

No improvement up to that time in the history of Pennsylvania was at-

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUXTY. 267-

tended with so much benefit to the west as the completion of this canal. Towns
and villages sprang up all along its route, and the population was everywhere
increased. Blast furnaces were started at once. Mountains which had hitherto
been regarded as worthless at once became of great value because of the
deposits of iron ore which they contained. The furnaces afforded a market for
the timber, for they were operated entirely by charcoal. The canal came west
from Johnstown on the north bank of the Conemaugh, passing near the towns
of Nineveh, New Florence, Lockport, Bolivar, Blairsville. Bairdstown, Liver-
more, Saltsburg, Leechbiirg and thence to Freeport. It crossed the Con-
emaugh river on a beautifully arched stone aquaduct at Lockport. It will
thus be seen that it passed along and through the northern part of our county
for a distance of about sixty miles, and that, though part of this distance it
was not within our limits, it was at all points within our reach and benefitted
our county correspondingly. The first canal boat o« our part of the canal
was built at Apollo, and was called the "General Abner Leacock." It was in-
tended as a freight and passenger boat, and had berths, etc., like the steamboats
of a later period.

In 1834 the Philadelphia and Columbia railroad was completed, and also
the Portage railroad over the mountains, which latter connected the two canals.
So a canal boat was brought from the east over the canal and over the moun-
tains on trucks to Johnstown, w^here it was put on the canal and finally reached
Pittsburgh. The newspapers of the day hailed this as one of the great feats
of modern times. Capitalists invested money in schemes all along the canal
route, and business men who were not interested in canal lines, its boats, or
its adjuncts such as turnpikes, stages, etc., were not regarded as wealthy nor
enterprising nor on the true highway to fortune.

A canal may be briefly described as an artificial waterway over which-
boats were drawn by mules. Beside the canal was a narrow path called a tow-
path, on which the mules were driven. They were hitched tandem to a long
rope which was fastened to the front part of the boat. By means of the rud-
der the boat was kept in the middle of the canal and could be landed at the side
opposite the towpath when necessary. Each section of the canal was neces-
sarily level from one end to the other. The next section of the canal being
either lower or higher than the first, the boat was lowered or raised, as-
might be necessary, by means of a lock, which was practically the same in con-
struction as the locks now used on rivers which are made navigable by slack-
water dams. The average canal was about thirty feet wide, and held about
four feet of water. Canal boats varied in length and somewhat in width ; they
were generally about twelve feet wide and from twenty-five to fifty feet long.
Two boats could therefore pass each other, for they were never quite half as
wide as the canal. They sometimes passed through hills by tunnels, and like-
wise over small valleys or rivers by embankments or bridges, the latter being
called aqueducts. The canal was fed at the beginning of its highest section,
usually by a dam across a stream or river, and the water moved so slowdy in

268 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

the canal, passing from one basin to another, that it often became stagnant.
There being no current, the boat could be landed at any time, and the draft
was about the same going either way. It was a very cheap system of trans-
portation. Two mules could easily draw fifty tons, and average about two mdes
per hour. The mules were driven on a rapid walk unless the boat was un-
usually heavily laden. While this speed was sufficient for iron, coal, lumber,
■or almost any species of freight, it was too slow for passenger traffic, and the
canals therefore were never much opposition to the stage lines passing over our
turnpikes. They were, however, of great advantage in the transportation of
freight. They are now nearly all abandoned, and one sees only the remnants
■of a lock or basin that is slowly filling up with sediment, so thoroughly have
they been supplanted by railroads.

From the Blairsvillc Record of July 23, 1829. we copy the following:

"We have delayed the publication of our paper till this morning so that we might
announce the arrival of the first packet boats, the Pioneer and the Pennsylvania, at the
port of Blairsville. They arrived last evening. They are owned by Mr. David Leech,
-whose enterprise and perseverance entitle him to much credit. A large party of citizens
and strangers met the boats a few miles below this town and were received on board
with that politeness and attention for which Mr. Leech is proverbial.

"The Pioneer passed the first lift lock below this place in the short space of three
minutes. The boats are handsomely fitted up and well calculated to give comfort to
passengers. They were welcomed at our wharves by the presence of many of our citizens
of both sexes. They departed at nine o'clock this morning for Pittsburgh."

The reader will understand that these were the first real passenger boats
on the canal ; freight boats had been in use two years before this.

One of the most interesting descriptions of traveling by canal in western
Pennsylvania is given by Charles Dickens in his "American Notes," written
■during his first visit to America in 1842 :

"The canal extends to the foot of the mountain, and there of course it stops, the
passengers being conveyed across it by land carriages, and taken on afterwards by another
canal boat, the counterpart of the first, which awaits them on the other side. There are
two canal lines of passage-boats ; one is called the Express, and the otiier, a cheaper one.
the Pioneer. The Pioneer gets first to the mountain, and waits for the Express people
to come tip, both sets of passengers being conveyed across it at the same time. We were
the Express company, but when we had crossed the mountain and had come to the second
lioat, the proprietors took it in their heads to draft all the Pioneers into it likewise, so
that we were five and forty at least, and the accession of passengers was not at all of that
kind which improved the prospect of sleeping at night. One of two remarkable circum-
stances is indisputably a fact with reference to that class of society who travels in these
boats, either they carry their restlessness to such a pitch that they never sleep at all, or
they expectorate in dreams, which would be a remarkable mingling of the real and the
ideal. All night long and every night on this canal, there was a perfect storm and temp-
est of spitting. Between five and six o'clock in the morning we got up, and some of
us went on deck to give them an opportunity of taking the shelves down, while others,
the morning being very cold, crowded round the rusty stove, cherishing the newly-kindled
fire, and filling the grate with these volunteer contributions of which they had been so

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 269.

liberal at night. The washing accommodations were primitive. There was a tin ladle-
chained to the deck, with which every gentleman who thought it necessary to cleanse
himself, many were superior of thir weakness, fished the dirty water out of the canal and.
poured it into a tin basin secured in like manner. There was also a jack-towel. Hanging
up before a little looking glass in the bar, in the immediate vicinity of the bread and
cheese and biscuits, were a public comb and a hair brush. And yet, despite these oddities,
and, even they had, for me at least, a humor of their own — there was much in this mode
of traveling which I heartily enjoyed at the time, and look back upon it now with great
pleasure. Even the running up bare-necked at five o'clock in the morning from the tainted
cabin to the dirty deck, scooping up the icy water, plunging one's head into it and drawing.
it out aJl fresh and glowing with the cold, was a good thing. The fast, brisk walk upon
the towing-path between that time and breakfast, when every vein and artery seemed to
tingle with health, the exquisite beauty of the opening day, when light comes gleaming
off from every thing; the lazy motion of the boat when one lay idly on the deck, looking;
through, rather than at the deep blue sky ; the gliding on at night so noiselessly, past
frowning hills, sullen with dark trees, and sometimes angry in one red, burning spot high
up where unseen men lay crouching round a fire; the shining out of the bright stars, un-
disturbed by noise of wheels or steam or any other sound than the rippling of the water
as the boat went on, all these were pure delights."

Charles Dickens arrived in Pittsburgh at 9:30 p. m. on j\Iarch 28, as is an-
nounced in the Morning Chronicle of March 29, so this trip was taken on the
28th. He came from Johnstown on David Leech's packet called the "Ex-
press." He went from Pittsburgh to St. Louis.

The primitive mode of navigation on the Monongahela and Youghiogheny
rivers was the simple Indian canoe propelled by either one or two oars. The
canoe was constructed by the unskilled hand and was the pride of the un-
tutored red man, for upon it he glided up and down our limpid waters. Gen-
erally they were made of a solid section of a tree hewn into proper shape by a
rude tomahawk. Sometimes the natural bark was nicely ornamented. The
successor to the canoe was the skiff. The original freight crafts were con-
structed in the form of rafts of logs, but on the coming of the saw mills, the
flat-boat and broad-horn boats took their place, serving well the purpose for
which intended. Li the early part of the nineteenth century they were super-
ceded by the keelboat, and they in time gave way to the steamboat. The first
steamboat built in the Monongahela Valley was at West Brownsville, but it is
not now known by whom built. Its name was the "Enterprise," and for many
years it plied up and down the Monongahela river.

After several attempts to have the general government permanently im-
prove the navigation of the Monongahela river without any practical success,
the Monongahela Navigation Company was authorized by an Act of the As-
sembly of Pennsylvania, March 31, 1836. The only improved condition of
navigation heretofore had been the construction of chutes and wing-walls at
the dififerent points. The improvements proposed by this company was a
series of locks and dams, and lock Nos. i and 2, beginning at Pittsburgh, v.'cre
built in 1841. Nos. 3 and 4 were completed for use to Brownsville November
13, 1844. Other locks and dams were completed at various dates, until finally

2.']0

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY

the government aided in improving the stream. Below Alorgantown, West
Mrginia, navigation is easy and complete. The slackvvater is in perfect work-
ing order so that steamboats can run from Pittsburgh to ^lorgantown all sea-
sons of the year except when the river is frozen over. November 8, 1889, the
locks and dams were completed to Morgantown, and the steamboat "James G.
Blaine" passed up from Pittsburgh to that place, being the first to make the
trip.

Prior -.0 the completion of slackwater to Brownsville there were no regular
packets on the river. The Liberty, Exchange, Oella, Massachusetts, Export,
and that class of boats, did duty as carriers of freight and passengers' when-
ever the depth of the water would admit of it, but navigation depended entirely
on high water.

The Pittsburgh & Brcwnsville Packet Company was organized 1844 by
Adam Jacobs, G. W. Cass, J. K. Moorehead, J. L. Dawson, I. C. Woodward
and others. The Consul was the first boat built for this company. She was
commanded by Captain Samuel Clarke. Soon after this the Louis McLane
was put on the line under command o,f Captain Adam Jacobs. In 1851 the
Red Stone was placed on the line with I. C. Woodward as commander. After
a short service she was sold, and a few months later exploded her boilers near
Cincinnati, Ohio, killing the engineer and several others. In 1852 the Jeflfer-
-son and Luzerne were put in service, and in 1856 the Telegraph, Captain I. C.
Woodward: 1859, the Gallatin, Captain Clarke; the Dunbar, Captain Bennett;
i860, the Franklin, Captain Bennett; 1864, the Fayette, Captain S. C. Spears;
1866, the E. Bennett, Captain M. A. Cox in command.

In 1868 the People's Line consolidated with the old line and was known
thereafter as the Pittsburgh, Brownsville & Geneva Packet Company. The
Geneva was built in 1871 bv this company and was in trade fourteen years.
The stern-wheel boat John Snowden came to service in ,1876, Captain Peter
Donaldson in charge, and later was turned into an excursion boat by Captain
L. N. Clarke of Pittsburgh. The Bennett and Chieftain were lost in a destruc-
tive ice break-up in 1882. The Adam Jacobs made her maiden trip Septem-
ber 15, 1885, Captain M. A. Cox in command. This was the first boat to use
electric light, which has since been added to nearly all the larger packet boats.

Before the completion of the Pennsylvania railroad to Pittsburgh the Mo-
nongahela was on the great route between the west and east. This packet com-
pany was a very important link in the route, and the number of passengers and
the freight carried by the boats prior to 1852 would astonish the modern en-
thusiast. Both freight and passengers came up the Ohio and then up the
Monongahela. The turnpike from Robbstown, (now West Newtown), to
]\It. Pleasant, Somerset, etc., was built to intercept this river trade. The slack-
water navigation of these rivers was therefore an important factor in our early
Westmoreland industries, and even yet affords a cheap method of transporta-
tion for thousands of tons annually of our southwestern products.

CHAPTER XX

Mexican War.

After over thirty years of peace with other nations, we were again engaged
in war, the third in our national history. It is known as the Mexican war. The
contention was over the territory north of the Rio Grande river, and residted
in the cession to the United States of that territory and CaHfornia. The war
came late in 1846. There was something glorious, in the opinion of the average
American youth, about going to a far-off land to fight an enem\- about whom
they knew nothing. They knew of the victory of General Sam Houston at the
battle of San Jacinto, in 1836, around which a glamour of romance had been
thrown. Mexico was, moreover, old in civilization when we were struggling
colonies. Its untold wealth of architecture rivaled that of the city on the Tiber
in the days of the Caesars. They were now to see its luxuriant marble baths,
its magnificent porticoes, its temples dedicated to the Sun, and the grand
palaces and halls of the ancient Montezumas. The magnificent yet decaying
splendor of all this was extremely attractive to the youthful Westmorelander
whose traveling had been limited in almost every case to his native state.
There, too, were the tempting fruits which ripened all the year round under the
bright rays of the tropical sun.

Prior to this we had had militia companies with their attendant parade or
review days, in nearly every section of the county, and these had engendered
a martial spirit among our young men which, at all events, has not been sur-
passed since that day. In the Greensburg company were attorneys, doctors,
preachers, merchants, clerks, mechanics, etc. They responded promptly to the
csll for troops, and about one hundred young men were sent to Mexico. They
were the best educated young men in the county, and in nearly every case
came from what might be called our best families. Nearly one-third of all
who left, never returned. But few of them fell in battle, and perhaps their
greatest mortality was due to diseases incident to the hot climate. Some were
laid in the hot sands at \'era Cruz, others were buried in the City of Mexico,
and still others, who died on the way home, were committed to the waves of the
great Gulf.

272 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

There was but one company in the war from our county, and it was raised
in and around Greensburg. The company roll is as follows :

Commissioned Officers : — Captain, Jno. W. Johnson ; first lieutenant. James Arm-
strong; second lieutenant, Washington Murry; second junior lieutenant, James Coulter.

Non Commissioned Officers : — First sergeant, Henry C. Marchand ; second sergeant,
Thomas J. Barclay; third sergeant, H. Byers Kuhns ; fourth sergeant, James M. Mc-
Laughlin ; first corporal, James M'. Carpenter ; second corporal, Andrew Ross ; third cor-
poral, William Bigelow ; fourth corporal, Daniel C. Byerly. Musicians. — drummer, An-
drew J. Forney ; fifer, Michael J. Kettering.

Privates : — John Arkins, Andrew Bates, Hugh Y. Brady, George W. Bonnin, William

A. Campbell, Humphrey Carson, Richard Coulter, Archibald Dougherty, Henry Fishel,
Samuel Gorgas, John R. Grow, Frederick Kaines, James M. Hartford, James Hays,
Andrew R. Huston, James Johnston, Jacob Kagarize, John Kerr, Jacob Kuhn, Philip

Kuhn. Jacob Linsebigler, Macready, George May, William H. Melville, Samuel

Milner, Samuel C. Moorhead, Peter McCabe, Samuel McClanen, James H. McDerniott.
Robert McGinley, Amon McLean, William McWilliams, Frederick Rexwood, Joseph
Shaw, Thomas Spears, Henry Scickle, Nathaniel Thomas, James Underwood, Williom
R. Vance, Lebbeus Allshouse, McClure Bills, Samuel Byerly, Henry Bloom, Hagen Car-
r.ey, Milton Cloud, George Decker, James L. Elliott, Henry Gresyn, Andrew D. Gor-
don, George Haggerty, Edward Hansberry, George W. Hartman, Michael Heasely, Jacob
Haffer. Richard H. L. Johnston. William Kelly, Henry Keslar, Daniel D. Kuhns, Edmund

B. Landon, Benjamin Martz, Jacob Marrhead, David Mechling, Jacob P. Miller, Samuel
H. Montgomery, Lewis Myers, Richard McClelland. John McCollum, Charles McGarvey,
William Mclntire. James McWilliams, David R. McCutcheon. James Reager, Chauncey
F. Sergeant, William R. Shields, Frederick D. Steck, John Taylor, Israel Uncapher,
Samuel Waters.

The troops bound for Mexico from the southern part of Pennsylvania, came
west largely on the Pittsburgh, Harrisburg and Philadelphia turnpike, and ail
along the farmers and others who had sleds, wagons and teams turned out to
haul them a few miles, and thus hasten their westward journey. The farmers
and others in the western part of Somerset county hauled them over the Laurel
Hill, where the Ligonier \^alley people took them up and delivered them at
Youngstown, and so on.

On December 23, 1846, a public meeting was held in Greensburg to raise a
fund to transport our company in the best of style to Pittsburgh. The company
was organized late in December, and all its members were entertained during
most of the holiday season by the citizens of Greensburg in their private
houses. Christmas came on Sunday that year, but the day following the women
of Greensburg gave the soldiers a "complimentary supper" in the court house.
On Tuesday Rev. Brownson, of the Presbyterian church, presented each mem-
ber of the company with a neatly bound Bible. They were received by ]\Ir.
Andrew Ross, who was a member of the bar and a member of the company. On
Wednesday morning, December 28. they started in wagons, coaches, etc., for
Pittsburgh. They started early, so that with their baggage they might reach
the city the same day, the accomplishment of which was regarded as quite a
success as to its rapidity in the mobilization of armies.

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 273

In Greensburp^ they were called the "Westmoreland Guards," but in the
service they were designated as Company E, Second Regiment Pennsylvania
Volunteers, and were in 'General Pillow's brigade, General Patterson's di-
vision, and of course, under General Winfield Scott. Ninety-four were mus-
tered into service at Pittsburgh, on January i, 1847. They left Pittsburgh
on January 8, and passed down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers to the Gulf of
^Mexico, and thence to \'era Cruz, which they reached on March 9th. They were
engaged in many battles. Only forty-four of them were mustered out on July
14, 1848. Their first colonel was William B. Roberts, but, on his being taken
sick, John W. Geary, who afterwards became Governor of Pennsylvania, suc-
ceeded him.

General Stephen W. Kearney commanded the "Army of the West;" Gen-
eral Zachary Taylor commanded the "Army of Occupation," and General Scott
commanded the "Army." On March 22d, our armies demanded a surrender
of Vera Cruz. This being refused, the batteries and the fleet which lay near
by in a bay af the Gulf, opened fire on the city. San Juan was the name of the
gate to the city, and it offered a stubborn resistance until our soldiers had deter-
mined to carry the works by an assault. The Mexican commander then of-
fered to surrender, the terms were agreed upon, and our troops took possession
of \'era Cruz.

On April 14 our army again confronted the Mexican army at Cerro Gordo.
To cut oft" the retreat, General Scott cut a road to the left of Cerro Gordo and
around the base of the mountain, and came in at the rear of the Mexican forts.
This took several days. A part of our army charged the enemy with such
impetuosity that they drove them back like sheep. Our batteries now occu-
pied the heights in front of Cerro Gordo. General Harney stormed the heights,
while General Shields guarded the left to prevent the escape of the enemy.
The city was taken and the enemy completely cut to pieces. Our army took
three thousand prisoners and killed and wounded one thousand two hundred.
Then the hot weather began to tell on the army, and there were only about
five thousand out of fourteen thousand troops who were able to march against
the City of Mexico. For this reason further movements were delayed till
August, at which time the effective army was increased to eleven thousand
troops. With these General Scott marched from Pueblo on May 5. This was
a long march for northern soldiers in that hot climate, and, when they were
about worn out, they passed over the crest of the mountains and suddenly
came in full view of the valley of Mexico with the famous capital in the dis-
tance. There, glittering in the sunlight, were the lofty domes and castles of
the Montezumas, and beyond were the snow-capped mountains and volcanoes.
But the road to the city was the most strongly fortified in Mexico, and to reach
it by that route which lay before them seemed out of the question. They there-
fore decided to cut a road around Lake Chalo, though the Mexicans thought
that was impossible. On the i8th the army was on the Acapulco road, near
San Augustine, and within nine miles of the city. But between them and the

274 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

city still lay the pass of San Antonio. It was a narrow gorge between two
mountains that were strongly fortified. General Scott concluded not to at-
tempt the pass until he would first take Contreras, a fortification which
guarded the pass. On August 19 four brigades of our soldiers fought the
enemy around Contreras all day. The Mexicans were superior in numbers
and in fortifications, and held their own verj' well all day. To the west was
Santa Anna with about ten thousand troops. Finally our infantry was moved
to the rear of the enemy, and the fight began from that section about an hour
before daybreak. At sunrise the other divisions of the army began the attack,
each from its position, bringing to bear against the enemy all the force it could
command. Though General Smith was not the senior ofiicer, he had command
of and outlined the place of the battle. After the battle properly began from all
sides, at break of day, it only took them a few minutes more than a quarter of
an hour to thoroughly defeat the enemy. Among other events of the battle
was the capture of two guns which had been taken by the Mexicans at Buena
Vista. They were recaptured by Simon H. Drum, of the well known Drum
family of Greensburg.

Four miles from Contreras was the fortress of Cherubusco. When Contreras
was once thoroughly commanded by our army. General Worth's division was
sent to attack San Antonio and thus open a shorter route to the city of Mexico.
After taking San Antanio they were to move on to join another division which
was at that time moving towards Cherubusco. The Mexican troops at San
Antonio did not wait to be attacked, but fled before our army reached them.
In fleeing, however, they fled to Cherubusco, and added great strength to that
fortress, so that our army met with a strong resistance at that place. It was
situated on a hill, and our forces crossed ditches, and by sheer force and fear-
less charging took one intervening point after another until at length they en-
tered the citadel of Cherubusco with drawn swords and drove the Mexicans
out, even pursuing them till they reached the gates Oif Mexico. Our army
lost about one thousand men while the Mexican army lost about
seven thousand, or nearly one-fourth of all they had engaged. Nearly
all this fighting, the reader must understand, was done in one day, August
20, 1847. There were really five battles in two days, but very little fighting
was done on the first day. The battles of Contreras, San Antonio, Cherubusco,
and that of the one wing Oif Santa Anna's army, were of such magnitude that
a nation might exult in the glory of winning any one of them. ( hir army then
marched towards the City of Mexico. When they came within two and a half
miles of the gates the Mexicans sued for peace, and these negotiations lasted
over two weeks. In the end the negotiations were of no avail.

General Scott had established his headquarters in a large stone building of
thick high walls, and high towers at each end. This building was at the foot
of a hill, and about a mile from Chapultepec and was called Jilolino del Rey.
Santa Anna's army, about fourteen thousand strong, lay west of this. On
September 8th, Scott attacked their lines in three places. He cut the Mexican

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 275

army in two, but could not support this advanced position, and was driven
back by the Mexicans, who reunited their army. On another attack he
opened the army again, and this time held his ground. There were now two
wings of the Mexican army, and Scott's forces were between them. It was in
this second attack that Drum's battery, in which were the Westmoreland sol-
diers, did more effectual fighting than in any other part of the entire war.
Drum himself was killed, and with him fell the brave young officer, "Dick"
Johnston.

While the attack was being made the Mexican army was recruited, and a
division of cavalry and one of infantry came suddenly upon the left of our
army, but they were met and driven back with considerable loss of life. This
battle is known in history as the battle of Molino del Rey, and was the bloodiest
battle of the Mexican war, but our troops won a great victory. Our loss was
1787, of whom fifty-eight were officers. The Mexican loss was still greater,
(rounting killed, wounded and prisoners, their army was reduced not less than
three thousand.

Four days after the battle of Molino del Rey, that is, on September 12,
our army began firing on Chapultepec. They shelled the fortress all day till
night fell, but with little or no effect. It was situated on a steep, rocky hill
one hundred and fifty feet above the surrounding grounds, and, like all
Mexican fortresses, was additionally strengthened by heavy stone walls. The
fort was nearly one thousand feet long. At the foot of the hill was a high,
thick stone wall, and behind it were several companies of Mexican troops.
In addition, the ground over which our army must pass to approach the fort
was mined and supposedly very dangerous. Beyond this was a strong redoubt,
heavily guarded. Farther on was another wall, and outside of each wall was
a deep ditch. In these strongholds were the IMexican soldiers whom our army
must dislodge, and, in addition to all this, the entire fortifications were pro-
tected by eleven heavy guns. In the early forenoon of September 13th the
command was given for a general move on the enemy from all sides. By
this time the fortress, or the bluff upon which it was located, was almost sur-
rounded. They were met by a perfect hail of bullets from the fortress, and
by the incessant firing from the eleven guns surmounting all. Our soldiers
bridged the ditches with fascines and passed over them quickly. Each com-
pany carried scaling ladders, and these were placed against the walls so that
they were soon escaladed, and, regardless of a loss of life, hundreds of soldiers
rushed into the citadel. The South Carolina and New York volunteers and the
Second Pennsylvania, in which it will be remembered were the Westmoreland
soldiers, were all in the thickest part of the battle at the final assault. The
fierce struggle lasted but a moment, and then victory came to the Union
armies. They took all of the artillery of the fort, and a large number of
prisoners.

Weakened and discouraged as the ^lexican armv necessarilv was bv all

276 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

these defeats, the city of Mexico, which was originally supposed to be the
stronghold of the nation, and the place where our armies would be compelled
to unite in order to conquer, was comparatively easily taken. It was a walled
city, and a few soldiers defended their gates stubbornly. But early on Sep-
tember 14, 1847, our army marched into the city with but little resistance.
In all these battles from Vera Cruz to Mexico our Westmoreland troops par-
ticipated, and in every instance gave splendid account of themselves.

In order to appreciate the work done by our Westmoreland soldiers it is
necessary to consider a few matters not patent on the bare narration of the
incidents of the war. The Union soldiers who fought in Mexico were largely
brought up in states south of Pennsylvania, and consequently were somewhat
accustomed to the hot climate. As a result of this they suffered much less
from the blazing sun of the tropics than the northern soldiers did. It must
also be remembered that from A'^era Cruz to Mexico they were marching
through a hostile country, and much of the time had no base of supplies with
which the rear of the army could communicate. They were compelled during
much of this long and weary march to subsist entirely on what they carried
with them and on what they could procure from the surrounding country.
They were in a country the topography of which was entirely unknown to
them, while around them skirted hungry and desperate guerrillas who required
most constant vigilance on the part of those who would protect themselves or
their property. Nor were there any railroads nor navigable streams upon which
they could transport their army. The route from Vera Cruz to Mexico lay
over mountains, through deep valleys and across malarial swamps, all of
which told with peculiar severity on the northern troops. Much of the road
was cut through a wilderness renowned for its density.

Simon H. Drum, who was killed at the great gate of the City of Mexico,
on September- 13, 1847, was born in Greensburg, and was the son of Simon
Drum, one of the pioneers of the town. He was a brother to Richard C.
Drum, late adjutant-general of the United States army. In the Mexican war
he was captain of the Fourth United States Artillery. The charge at Con-
treras, whereby he recovered the two cannon taken at Buena Vista, was one
of the most daring in the whole war. At some distance before them and
within the enemy's lines, he saw and recognized the guns, and at once gave the
order that they must be taken at all hazards. This was accordingly done by a
number of his men whom he led in the charge. They ran forward regardless
of the consequences, and quickly overpowered the Mexicans who were in
charge of them. They brought them safely within army lines, and they were
never captured again. During the battle of Cherubusco, Drum's battery kept
up a constant and destructive fire all day.

At the hour of his death most of his men had been cut down, and he was.
unable to move his guns on this account. Near by him, in the arches of
an aqueduct, lay many of the Westmoreland Guards. Drum had known most

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 277

of them in boyhood, and many of them had been schoohiiates with him. He
accordingly appealed to them for help. At his call a band of Westmoreland
soldiers ran forward and moved the cannon to a place where they would be
more effectual, but they left the dead body of the brave Captain Drum in the
rear. He was born June 8, 1807, and was graduated from West Point in July,
1829. He served in the Black Hawk war, and was for three years an officer
in the artillery of the Regular Army. In 1846 he entered the service in the
war with Mexico. He came under General Scott at Vera Cruz, and was with
the army till his death the day before the great city was taken. In battle
he was always distinguished for his coolness and his bravery. In the battles
of Cerro Gordo and Contreras his gallantry reflected great credit upon himself
and upon his native county.

Richard H. J. Johnston, generally called "Dick" Johnston, was killed the
same day. He entered the army at the breaking out of the war as a private,
and was shortly appointed a lieutenant by the President. He had two brothers
in the war. He escaped through all the battles of the campaign, and also the
sickness to which most of the soldiers were subjected — all this, only to be cut
down at the last, when in view of the city. He was a son of Alexander John-
ston, of Kingston House, the old stone mansion on the pike near Kingston Sta-
tion, on the Ligonier Valley railroad.

Andrew Ross was a member of the Westmoreland bar. He was born in
Allegheny township, was graduated at Union College in New York, and was
admitted to the bar. Shortly after this he enlisted in the Mexican war service,
and served througn the campaign from Vera Cruz to Mexico, but had con-
tracted a sickness from the great heat, and died on a ship while homeward
bound. His body was cast overboard into the waters of the Gulf of Mexico.
James Kerr was a student at law when he entered the Guards. He was taken
sick at New Orleans, and never reached Vera Cruz, dying on March nth.
George May, of Youngstown ; James M. Hartford, of Stewartsville, and Lewis
Meyers, of Carlisle, were also members of the company, and all died at Vera
Cruz before the march began. Lieutenant Murry lost his health in the
campaign between Vera Cruz and Cerro Gordo. After the battle at the latter
place he started home to regain his health, but died before he reached here.
His remains were sent home and were buried at Long Run churchyard. The
drummer, A. J. Forney, died on his way home at Louisville, Kentucky.
Andrew R. Huston was detailed to care for yellow fever patients at Vera Cruz.
While thus engaged he contracted the disease and soon died himself. William
A. Campbell reached home in a greatly debilitated health, and died shortly
after. Robert McGinley, of Salem township, a brave young man of much
promise, died and was buried in Mexico. Sergeant James McLaughlin, son
of Randall McLaughlin, of Greensburg, participated in all the battles from
Vera Cruz to Mexico. His health was badly broken and he returned home
but never regained it. He died March 30. 1848.

278 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

There were six Westmorelanders who were not in the Greensburg com-
pany, but with the Duquesne Grays, First Regiment. They were John C.
Gilchrist, killed October 12, 1847; James Keenan, Jr., promoted to second lieu-
tenant of the Eleventh Infantry; Richard C. Drum, also promoted to second
lieutenant of the Eleventh Infantry; Joseph Spencer, and Henry Bates, both
died at Puerto, Mexico ; and William Bums, of whom there is no return.

The largest part of the Greensburg company who lived to return home
came up the Mississippi and Ohio rivers and reached Pittsburgh on the morning
of July II, 1848. Great arrangements were made to welcome them at Greens-
burg and in the county generally. People came from all sections to attend a
pubHc meeting called to perfect the preparations for a grand welcome. When
the boat arrived at the wharf in Pittsburgh a delegation of Westmorelanders
was on hand to meet them. "A host of warm hearts from Old Westmoreland,"
says a Pittsburgh paper, "were soon on the steamer. Fathers, sons, wives and
sweethearts were found in happy communion." "They were escorted to their
quarters by a number of our citizens and by the Westmoreland friends. We
got a fair look at them. They were the best looking fellows that have yet re-
turned. This is the opinion of all. Captain Johnston, as well as his men, de-
serves great credit for the really good appearance they made." The com-
mittee brought them to Greensburg, after which they were feted and feasted
wherever they went. Ball rooms were opened, banquets were spread, and both
young and old, but particularly the young women, vied with each other in
doing honor to the returned soldiers. Captain Johnston lived at Kingston
House, near Youngstown, and great preparations were made there to receive
him and his soldiers, several of whom were from that neighborhood. The old
town was hung with garlands, flags and streamers, and across the street were
several triumphal arches of evergreens.

CHAPTER XXI

Railroads.

Westmoreland county is abundantly supplied with railroads. Nearly the one-
sixth of the Pennsylvania road between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia lies within
its bounds. It was the first railroad across the county, built in the early days of
railroad making, and it has been a prominent factor in the development of our
industries. From the earliest history to the present time the problem of trans-
portation has taxed the resources and the ingenuity of mankind. In our state,
as we have seen, it was a tedious journey from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia.
First came pack-horses, and these in time were supplanted by wagons and stage-
coaches. The best stage-coach time from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia did not
vary much from fifty-six hours. With the building of the railroad the time
was at once reduced to twelve hours, and even this has since been greatly
shortened.

The building of the Pennsylvania was one of the first railroad projects in
America. On March 31, 1823, our legislature incorporated a company to build
a railroad from Philadelphia to Columbia, a town situated on the Susque-
hanna river in Lancaster county. The distance was about eighty miles. It was
not built for some years afterwards, but its agitation helped to prepare the
public mind, and thus contributed greatly to its ultimate success. Among its
incorporators were Horace Binney and Stephen Girard of Philadelphia. John
Stevens, of New Jersey, was the leading spirit in the enterprise. At that time
the majority of our people had no faith in railroads. They truly regarded ag-
riculture as the basis of all wealth, and reasoned that steam transportation
would injure the sale of oats, horses, etc. But New York in 1826 had com-
pleted the Erie canal, which connected the Northern Lakes with New York
city, and our Pennsylvania legislators were bright enough to see that some-
thing must be done or the western trade would all go that way to the sea-
board. The Erie canal was already carrying seventy million dollars worth of
western products to the East each year. In 1828, therefore, the canal commis-
sioners were directed to complete a railroad from Philadelphia to Columbia
within two years, and to examine a route over the Allegheny mountains with
the ultimate purpose of thus reaching the navigable waters of the Ohio river

28o HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

at Pittsburgh. The Erie canal was a sad blow to Philadelphia and to our
state in general, for it stimulated the New York trade at the expense of Penn-
sylvania. Our state therefore appropriated two millions of dollars for the
project of opening a way between the Ohio river and Philadelphia. It was a
large sum for that day, but the legislature was equal to the emergency. They
continued the cnarter of the Bank of Pennsylvania for eighteen years on an
agreement that the bank would lend the state four millions of dollars at five
and one-half per centum interest. This money all went into canals and rail-
roads between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. With it was built the Columbia
road and also the Portage railroad across the Allegheny mountains. Thus they
triumphed over a most serious barrier between the East and West. Under the
circumstances the "Old Portage Road" has not been surpassed by railroad
building in America. It consisted of eleven levels or grade lines, and ten in-
clined planes. The cars were pulled over the levels by locomotives, and were
pulled up the incline planes by wire ropes attached to stationary engines at the
tops. It was operated for twenty years, and was the wonder of America.
From Johnstown going east, the five inclines, with an aggregate length of 9670
feet, raised the train 800 feet ; the five inclines on the eastern slope of the moun-
tains, with an aggregate length of 13,499 feet, lowered it 1202 feet. The levels
between the inclines were constructed so as to gradually raise or lower the train,
that is, they were not quite level. Thus, by means of these two railroads and the
canals, they opened up a continuous line of travel and transportation from
Philadelphia to Pittsburgh as early as 1834. The line consisted of a railroad
from Philadelphia to Columbia, eighty-two miles ; then came the canal, 172
miles long, reaching from Columbia to Hollidaysburg ; then the Portage road
from Hollidaysburg to Johnstown, thirty-six miles ; and a canal from Johns-
town across the northern part of Westmoreland county to Pittsburgh, a distance
of 104 miles, making in all 394 miles. Freight, of course, had to be handled
with every transfer, and its transportation was slow and expensive. The state
had expended about fourteen million dollars on the project, and never realized,
anything of value from it by the way of dividends. But it was of untold bene-
fit to the country through which it passed, and by the development of our re-
sources, the state was in the end an abundant gainer.

Almost as soon as this route was finished, a project was set on foot and
agitated to construct a railroad all the way, that is, to supplant the canals with
railroads. On March 6, 1838, a general convention was held in Harrisburg to
urge the building of the road to Pittsburgh. Delegates were present from
twenty-nine counties, and a good many from Ohio. Thus the matter was agi-
tated, and not long after Mr. Charles L. Schlatter was appointed by the canal
commissioners to survey and determine the best route upon which to build a
railroad to the west. In 1840 he reported three routes which he had surveyed,
one of which followed the Juniata and, crossing the mountains, passed down
the Conemaugh. This was thought to be the best route. It was he and his
survey whicli fir.st demonstrated conclusively that the Allegheny mountains

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 281

could be crossed without using inclined planes. The project did not assume
a tangible shape till 1846, when, on April 13, the act incorporating the Penn-
sylvania Railroad Company was passed by our legislature. On February 25,
1847, Governor Francis R. Shunk granted a charter to the company, and work
was soon begun at both ends, that is at Pittsburgh and at Harrisburg, the
grading of fifteen miles east of the former city being let on the 22d day of July.
On September 17, 1850, the road was opened to Holli'daysburg, where it con-
nected with the Portage road across the mountains. In August, 185 1, twenty-
one miles west from Johnstown were finished, and this, with the part built east
from Pittsburgh, left a gap of only about twenty-eight miles to complete the
entire road. The year following this gap was closed up, and on December 10,
1852, the cars began to run through from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh. The
Portage road was still used by which to cross the mountain, but by February
15, 1854, the road over the mountains was finished, and trains passed through
from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia without using the inclined planes.

The Allegheny mountains had for twenty-five years been considered an
insurmountable barrier. Its completion was of great advantage to Westmore-
land county and its industries. Otherwise we should not so long have dwelt on
its construction. A great deal of credit for its construction is due our early
representatives and senators in the legislature. They were men of much more
than average ability and influence in public affairs. Those who represented
Westmoreland were vigilant in looking after the interests of their county, and
managed to have it included in all the great railroad and canal building schemes
undertaken by the commonwealth.

Public meetings were held in Greensburg, one as early as April 19, 1836,
to express the desire of the people to have the railroad pass through Westmore-
land and through Greensburg. Such agitation was not unnecessary, nor were
they without reason. Schlatter was then surveying, and from his examinations
reported a route south of the present location, and which would have passed
only through the southern part of the county. This route had moreover been
reported as a feasible one by Hother Hage, a distinguished engineer, some
years prior to Schlatter's survey. This was called the southern route. But
Schlatter also reported a third route, called the northern route, which passed
up the Susquehanna and down the Allegheny to Pittsburgh. While this route
was longer than either of the others, it had one advantage which appealed to all,
viz.: by a short branch to the northwest Lake Erie, 'with all the commerce on
the northern lakes then passing through New York, could be reached, and
doubtless this commerce could be diverted and drawn over the proposed Penn-
sylvania Railroad. The survey of the road through, our county was made by
Charles De Hass, and it was he who in January, -1837, first reported in favor of
the route passing through Greensburg.

The grading of the road near Greensburg began in 1849. The tunnel at
Greensburg and the immense fills east and west, made it one of the most diffi-
cult antl expensive sections west of the Alleghenv mountains. The contractor

282 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

was JMichael jMalone. The section west of Greensburg, which included the
old Radebaugh tunnel, was let by contract to Richard McGrann, Jr. Charles
McCausland was contractor for the next section eastward, including the "cut"
near the old fair grounds. It required about three years to complete the work
near Greensburg on account of the heavy fills, etc., above referred to. All the
earth for these fills was hauled there in carts. A strike occurred in November,
1850, the report of which shows something of the wages paid laborers em-
ployed on the work. When the days began to shorten with approaching winter,
the contractors reduced the wages from one dollar per day to 873^ cents per
day, and a general strike was inaugurated. As is usual in such cases, the men
went to work again after a week's idleness, at the reduced rates.

The first locomotive which entered Westmoreland county came from the
West, that is from Pittsburgh. It had been made in the East, and taken to
Pittsburgh in pieces on canal boats. It arrived at Radebaugh's near Greens-
burg, on Monday, July 5, 1852. Its coming had been widely heralded, and
men and women came from all sections of the county to witness the unpre-
cedented event. Most of them had never seen a locomotive before, and many
a level headed visitor studied it with deep and curious interest trying to dis-
cover the secret of its hidden strength. On Thursday, July 15, 1852, trains
began to run regularly from Radebaugh's to Pittsburgh and return. The
daily train left the "station" at 6 o'clock a. m., and reached Pittsburgh twenty-
nine miles, in two hours. It returned again in the evening, leaving Pittsburgh
at 6 :30, and reaching Radebaugh's at 8 o'clock. The fare each way was eighty
cents.

A few months after, on November 29, was the eventful day for Greens-
burg, so far as railroad building was concerned. It will be understood that the
train from Pittsburgh stopped at Radebaugh's two miles west of Greensburg,
because the immense fill immediately west of Greensburg was not completed.
On November 29, it had been finished, and the locomotive passed over it and
through the tunnel and over the embankments east of the tunnel. It passed
over them very slowly, going over them several times, perhaps each time with
more assurance and speed, to test the solidity of the massive piles of earth and
stone. Later in the day a train passed over the entire length of the road
through the county. It was a great event. For almost a generation they had
been talking about and projecting it. Now, at last, it was a reality. Citizens
of all ages, men, women and children, gathered at the stations or along the
line, to see this wonder of the nineteenth century. Not alone was the railroad
a curiosity among the people of the rural sections when it first made its ap-
pearance. Though poorly equipped and only in embryonic form of what we
have today, travel by railroad was the marvel of the age.

The celebrated abolitionist, Joshua R. Giddings, of Ohio, one of the ablest
lawyers and statesmen of his day, when on his way to Washington, in No-
vember, 1838, to assume the duties of his long and noted career in Congress,
took his first ride on a railroad. The experience was so remarkable to him

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 283

that he made the following note of it in his journal. Its uniqueness entitles
it to a prominent place in any railroad literature.

"At eleven o'clock about one hundred and twenty passenger^;, seated in three cars,
carrying from forty to sixty passengers each, started upon the Baltimore and Ohio Rail-
road for Washington. The cars are well carpeted and the seats cushioned. We had also
a stove in each car which rendered them comfortably warm. Thus seated, some convers-
ing in groups, others reading newsapers, and some, from loss of sleep in traveling, sleep-
ing in their seats, we were swept along at the rate of fifteen miles per hour. At the
usual time our candles were lighted and we presented the appearance of three drawing
rooms filled with guests traveling by land. At about seven o'clock we arrived at Wash-
ington City. The moment we stopped we were surrounded on every side with runners,
porters, hackmen and servants, one calling to know if you would go to Gadsby's, another
if you would go to Brown's, another if you would take a hack, etc. They are a source
of great annoyance, which the police ought to prevent."

The Pennsylvania Railroad enters Westmoreland county at its most eastern
point, in St. Clair township, passing through that township through the bor-
ough of New Florence ; thence through Fairfield township, by the banks of the
Cornemaugh river, through Lockport and Bolivar; thence into Derry township
to Branch, where it takes a southwestwardly course through Derry township,
passing through ]\Iillwood, Derry, Bradenville, and Latrobe, where it crosses
the Loyalhanna, and passes west across Unity township; thence in a west-
wardly direction through Hempfield township, passing through Greensburg,
Grapeville, Jeannette, Penn Station, Manor, Irwin, and Larimer, in North
Huntingdon township ; thence northwest, passing out of ^^'estmoreland county
west of Trafford City, in North Huntingdon township.

The Pittsburgh & Lake Erie Railroad enters the county at the northwest
part of Rostraver township, and traverses the western part of the township close
to the ^lonongahela river, passing through the borough of ]\lonessen, leaving
the county at the southwest corner of Rostraver township.

The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad enters the county in the southwest portion
of South Huntingdon township, and runs northward along the Youghiogheny
river, passing the borough of West Newton ; thence through the western part
of Sewickley township, leaving the county north of Robbins Station, in North
Huntingdon township.

The South-West Branch of the Pennsylvania Railroad begins at Greens-
burg, running southwest through Hempfield township ; thence southeast
through East Huntingdon township, passing the towns of Youngwood, New
Stanton, Hunker, Rufifsdale, Tarr, Alverton, etc., to Scottdale.

The Sewickley Branch of the Pennsylvania Railroad leaves the South-West
Branch at Youngwood, running southwest through Hempfield and Mt. Pleas-
ant townships to Unity and Tranger. Branches run also to ^lammoth, in Mt.
Pleasant township, to Humphries and Klondike in Unitv township, and to the
Hecklas.

The Hempfield Branch of the Pennsylvania Railroad begins at South

284

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

Greensburg, and runs north, and thence southwest through a rich coal field
to Arona, in Sewickley township. It also connects with the main line of the
Pennsylvania at Radebaugh and Irwin.

The Youghiogheny Railroad, with one terminus at Irwin, extending south
through North Huntingdon township ; thence through Sewickley township, in-
tersecting the Baltimore & Ohio at Lock No. 4, in the southwest part of Se-
wickley township.

The Unity Branch of the Pennsylvania Railroad leaves the main line at
Latrobe, runs southward through Unity to-wnship, to Baggley and Lippincott.

The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad has a branch extending from near Scott-
dale passing through the southern part of East Huntingdon township, passing
Bridgeport and Mt. Pleasant, extending to the Standard Mines of Mt. Pleasant
township.

The Pennsylvania Railroad has a branch extending through East Hunting-
don township from Scottdale to Mt. Pleasant.

The Ligonier Valley Railroad has one of its termini at Latrobe, extending
southeast through Derry township along the banks of the Loyalhanna, through
Ligonier township to Ligonier, a distance of ten miles.

The Turtle Creek branch of the Pennsylvania Railroad leaves the main line
at Trafiford City, passing northwest through North Huntingdon, Penn and
Franklin townships, to Murry ville ; thence east through Franklin township to
Export and New Salem.

The Allegheny Valley Railroad enters the county at the southwest part of
Burrell township, passing north to Parnassus, New Kensington and Arnold,
being close to the Allegheny river, passes northeast through Lower Burrell and
Allegheny township to Lucesco.

The West Penn Railroad enters Westmoreland county at the northern part
of Allegheny township, passes southeast along the Kiskiminetas river, with
stations at Hyde Park, and Vandergrift, and through the northern part of
Washington township in a southeasterly course, through Bell township to
Avonmore.

The Pittsburgh, Westmoreland and Somerset Railroad has its northern ter-
minus at Ligonier, extending south through Ligonier and Cook townships to
Somerset.

The Westmoreland Central Railroad has its southern terminus at Ligonier,
extending north through Ligonier township to the coal mines of the Colonial
Coal and Coke Company.

The Alexandria Branch of the Pennsylvania Railroad leaves the main line
at Donohoe, runs north througli Linity township to Crabtree.

CHAPTER X^II

Church History.

There was no other state in the Union which began with as many rehgious
denominations and as much genuine religious toleration as Pennsylvania. From
the first settlement of Penn and his Quaker adherents, the Province was an
asylum for all elements in Europe. Particularly did they come to Pennsyl-
vania if they were persecuted because of their religion at home. Other colonies
were formed like ours by people who fled from the religious persecutions of
Europe, but many of them instituted a series of persecutions in America that
were scarcely less vigorous than those from which they had fled in the old
world. The Puritans were determined to worship as they saw fit, but they did
not allow Roger Williams to do so. It was different in Pennsylvania. With
one exception we had absolute toleration of all religions, and this gave us more
denominations than any other state, if not more than all the others put together.

This heterogeneous religion prevented our old Congress and our Constitu-
tional Convention in 1787 from endorsing or establishing any religion. There
is little doubt but that, had the colonies been all Puritan like Massachusetts, or
all Cavalier like Virginia, Congress would have been forced to establish a
church as the sanctioned religion of the new nation, thus following the religious
policy of all European countries. But here in Pennsylvania we had all kinds
of religion, and among our people were many skeptics, and prominent men
without religious belief at all. This influence in Philadelphia, where both our
Continental Congress and the Constitutional Convention met, prevented these
bodies in no small degree from forming an established religion. Indeed, it
might be said that our many religious beliefs prompted both bodies to sanction
our system as the prevailing system throughout the Union as it is today. Here;
we had genuine religious freedom. The Congregationalists in the east and the
Episcopalians in the south tolerated but little else in the way of religion. What
might be called persecutions on account of religion, while they were common
in New England and A^irginia, were practically unknown from the beginning
in Pennsylvania. The Acadian persecution of 1755 was the only exception in
the history of the Province to a system of absolute religious toleration. Our
system of religion then differed none whatever from that which is common in

28.6 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUXTY.

the United States tocla_\'. The poet Longfellow wrote "Evangeline." to de-
scribe this one exception in our history to complete and perfect toleration.
We have, it is true, on our early statute books, a few laws known as Blue-
Laws (a name given them because they resembled the rigorous laws of Xew
England), but we never had any that compared in their severity with those of
other st:.tes. Yet there is no indication that we were less moral, that we were
more negligent of church duties, or less enthusiastic in going into all the world
"and preaching the gospel to every creature. Xor were they ever accused of be-
ing less devout in their observance of the Sabbath than the people of any other
state. Though they recognized marriage as a civil contract into, which they
entered with almost no ceremony at all, each church adopting its own simple
form, yet they adhered as closely to its vows as the people of any other state.

This generous view of life, this universal toleration so thoroughly lived up to,
not only led our lawgivers to adopt ours as a national system, but it brought
to our state people representing all forms and creeds of religion. Here, at
last, was a province where no man was persecuted because of his religion or
because of his lack of religion. Yet our morals were as high, our piety as
sincere and wide-spread, as in any other colony.

As every one knows, Philadelphia and the eastern counties were settled by
Quakers. They did not hold their own as the state filled up with immigration.
Though at first they outnumbered all others, they have gradually lost ground
until thev are now onlv found in a few eastern counties. Westmoreland county

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 287

was settled largely by Presbyterians and Lutherans. The former had for that
day a well educated minister, and, with their energy shown no less in religion
than in other matters, they spread their theories and tenets very rapidly.

Christopher Gist, a surveyor from Virginia, in the employ of the Ohio
Land Company, often as early as 1750 read prayers from the Established
Church prayer books to the Indians and white men in his employ.
The Roman Catholics who founded and built Fort Duquesne held religious serv-
ices regularly until the fort was taken by the English, and the day following,
Rev. Beatty, as we have said, preached a Thanksgiving sermon. He was a
Presbyterian, and following this up the first permanent preaching and church
founding in our county was done by the Presbyterians. They were already
strong in the ea.st, and sent out missionaries.

THE PRESBYTERL\N CHURCH.

Rev. John Steel came here at the request of Governor Penn to try to induce
those who had settled here prior to 1769 in disregard of the law which forbade
them to settle on lands not yet purchased by the Indians, to remove. Steel was
a brave and daring spirit who did not fear the savages. He had been a captain
in the expedition under Armstrong against Kittanning in 1756. But, as
most of them would not move. Revs. George Duffield and Charles Beatty were
sent to Western Pennsylvania by the Synod of New York and Philadelphia, to
preach to them and to try to found churches. Beatty had been a chaplain not
only with Forbes' army but with Braddock's ill-fated troops as well, and was
therefore well suited to minister to the spiritual wants of the pioneers. Their
work was scattered over a wide range of territory, and further than that they
busily sowed the seed which afterwards brought forth an abundant harvest,
little is definitely known of their work. Soon after this a minister named An-
derson was sent here by the Donegal Synod who were to pay him twenty shill-
ings a day for every Sabbath he preached west of the Allegheny mountains.
For the year 1769 the same synod ordered that the western frontier be supplied
with ministers "for ten Sabbaths."

Rev. Mr. Finley also did missionary work here. He arrived on horseback
in 1 77 1. He purchased lands in what is now Washington county, then in Bed-
ford county, as the old assessment books of Bedford show.

Rev. James Power came from the east also, and was the first who had the
nerve to remain with our frontier people. He came first in 1774, and preached
several months. In 1776 he came with his family and remained. He traveled
very widely over what is now \\'ashington, Allegheny, Westmoreland and Fay-
ette counties. He preached in private houses, in barns, in forts, and in the
woods. He thus organized small bodies of people which eventually grew into
church organizations and procured pastors of their own. After a few years
of general work over a large field, he became the regular pastor of the Mt.
Pleasant and Sewickley congregations, in 1779. He remained constantly with

288 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

them till 1817, when he was released because he was too old to perform the
arduous duties of this position. Mount Pleasant church was two miles north
of the present town of Mt. Pleasant. Its name, being a purely Scotch-Irish
one, indicated the nationality of its founders. From the church the town
afterwards took its name. It was he who was preaching at Unity, perhaps in
Proctor's house, on the day that Hannastown was destroyed, and who dismissed
his people and rode rapidly homeward.

He was born in Chester county in 1746, graduated from Princeton in 1766,
and began to preach regularly in 1772. He and his family and what scanty
goods they had came here on pack-horses, having crossed the Allegheny moun-
tains on the Forbes road. He carried his eldest daughter on a horse behind
him, and his youngest child in his arms. The two other children were carried
in baskets which balanced each other as they hung across the back of another
pack-horse, while the remainder of the horse's burden was made up by clothes
tied to the saddle. The mother rode another horse, and the remainder of their
goods were packed on other horses. In 1787 he was relieved from the Se-
wickley church pastorate, after which he devoted his time entirely to the Rlt.
Pleasant work. He has been described as a straight slender man, of medium
height, and one who displayed much grace, and manners, both in and out of the
pulpit. He was, moreover, very neat in his dress, and a very able preacher.
He died August 5, 1830, aged eighty-five years. After his retirement in 1817
the charge remained vacant till 1821, when Rev. A. O. Patterson was made
pastor of Mt. Pleasant and Sewickley, again united. The Sewickley charge
had been organized by Dr. Power in 1776. When it was cut ofif from Mt.
Pleasant it was united with Long Run congregation, and both charges were
under the ministry of Rev. William Swan.

Rev. James Finley, who, as we said, was the first minister who visited this
part of the state, was born in Ulster, Ireland, and was thoroughly educated be-
fore he came to America. He was licensed to preach in 1752. In person he
was a short, compactly built, nervous man, and able both by nature and by
preparation to endure the many hardships necessarily encountered in a fron-
tier life. With his family he came here in 1783, and began preaching at Re-
hoboth, or Upper Meeting House, in Sewickley township. He remained their
pastor till 1795. This is one of the oldest Presbyterian congregations in our
county. Rev. Finley preached there first in 1772 when he was only prospect-
ing for a field of labor, as it were, and when his hearers were but a few scat-
tered white settlers. In 1778 he gathered the people together at Rehoboth, and
organized them, and in 1784 took regular pastoral charge of them. He died
in 1795, and was succeeded shortly after by Rev. David Smith, whoi seived
them till his death, August 24, 1803. He, in turn, was succeeded by Rev.
William Wylie, who remained their pastor till 1817, when he was succeeded
by Rev. Robert Johnston. This section of the county was on the frontier bor-
der, and was greatly annoyed by the Indians in the last quarter of the eigh-
teenth century.

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNI V. 2S9

Long Run congregation is about as old as the Red Stone Presbytery, which
was formed in 1781. It was supphed by the Presbytery till 1793, when it and
Sewickley were united, and Rev. William Swan became their pastor. He min-
istered to them till 1S18, when after a short vacation, he became the pastor of
Long Run alone, and continued with them till 1822, when he resigned because
of his age. Fairfield, in Ligonier Valley, w-as also an early organization and
was supplied by the Redstone Presbytery for some years. It was then united
with Donegal and Wheatfield congregations, and Rev. George Hill was made
pastor. His ordination took place November 13, 1792. He continued to preach
to them till his death, June 17, 1822. In 1824, June 17, Rev. Samuel Swan was
ordained pastor of Fairfield, Ligonier and Donegal.

L'nity congregation was organized about 1776. They preached there, as
was the custom, several years before they built a church. It was known as
Proctor's Tent. The present church edifice is the building on the same ground.
Among its early members were William Findley, John Proctor, the Lochrys,
the Sloons. the Craigs, etc. For some years they had no regular pastor, but
were served with supplies. The first regular pastor was Rev. JoJin McPerrin,
who was installed in 1791, and remained till 1800. He served the Salem con-
gregation at the same time. Both Salem and Congruity charges were organ-
ized about the time Unity was, though Unity was older as a preaching place
than either of them, and all were added to the Redstone Presbytery. The first
pastor at Congruity was Rev. Samuel Porter, who preached at the same time
at Poke Run. Porter and McPerrin were both ordained together, on Septem-
ber 22, 1790.

All these men were practically missionaries then. The Redstone Presbytery
was erected by the Synod of New York and Philadelphia on May 16, 178 1. It
was to meet in what is now Fayette county in September, but its meeting had
to be put off on account of Indians who were prowling about the country.
Their first meeting was held shortly after that at Pigeon Creek, in Washington
county. There were present Revs. McMillen, Power, and Thaddeus Dodds,
and Elders John Xeil, Dennis Findley and Patrick Scott. Rev. Joseph Smith
is marked "absent."

Rev. Samuel Porter was an Irishman, born in 1760. He studied Greek
and Latin and theology under Rev. McAlillen, and boarded with his family
while doing so, all free o.f charge. He was licensed to preach in 1789, and the
year following began preaching at Polk Run and Congruity. He died Septem-
ber 23, 1825, while pastor in charge of the latter congregation.

Rev. George Hill was born in York county, March 13, 1764, and was li-
censed to preach December 22, 1791. He was first assigned to Wheatfield,
Fairfield and Donegal, November 13, 1792. In 1798 he took on the charge of
Ligonier, at which time Wheatfield was otherwise provided for. There he
labored diligently and with much vigor and success till his death, June 9. 1822.

John McPerrin was born in York or Adams county, in 1757. He learned
the dead languages under Rev. Robert Smith, and was graduated from Dick-

29P

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAXD COUNTY

inson college at Carlisle on May 17, 1788. He was licensed to preach bv the
Redstone Presbytery in 17S9, and became pastor of Salem and Unity congre-
gation, September 22. 1791. In 1800 he removed from the locality and died in
1822.

William Swan was a native of Cumberland county, and was educated at
Cannonsburg. He was licensed to preach December 22, 1791, and began
preaching at Long Run and Sewickley, April 7, 1793. There he preached more
than a quarter of a century. In 1822 his lungs failed and he closed his work.
He died in 1827.

Many oi these early ministers preached for years without churches. There
was generally a pulpit of rough boards or logs erected, while fallen trees
served those who wanted to sit down during the services. Most of the con-
gregation remained standing, or leaned against trees, during the whole of a
long sermon. The men often came to the meeting without coats, and often
the preacher spoke in his shirt sleeves. When they had churches they were
very cold in the winter, and the people often brought heavy blankets and a
superabundance of deer skins to keep them warm. Often, too, they built a log
heap near the church, so that they could fire it and go there between services
to get warm. They usually had two sermons, one in the forenoon and one in
the afternoon, with an hour's intermission between for luncheon. They often
met together, the citizens of a community, and built a log church in a single
day. There was rarely ever a fire place in them, but they often placed a large
kettle filled with red hot coals which made the room a little warmer. The roof
was made of clapboards held in place by small saplings laid on the top of them.
It was about in keeping with the rude log houses in which the early settlers
lived. The singing was done by the unlearned congregation, and from all ac-
counts had ven,' little music in it.

The early ministers traveled long distances on horseback from one preach-
ing place to another. At all times they were in danger from wild beasts and
Indians. Often the distance between preaching stations was so great that they
were compelled to pass a night in the wilderness, sleeping on the bare earth
and under a canopy of stars. There were no bridges across the large streams.
They had to be forded, and this, particularly in the winter time, was attended
with great danger. They endured the vigor of our climate without complaint,
and did it practically without remuneration. They carried the Gospel to half-
dressed pioneers who stood around the rude pulpit leaning on their rifles. They
invariably worked at some kind of manual labor in order to assist in support-
ing their families. They sowed good seed, and by their simple methods of life
most of them outlived the span of years allotted to man, and saw a rich har-
vest as the result of their earlv labors.

THE UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.

The United Presbyterian Church of North America, Scotch in its theology,
ancestrv and traditions, was constituted bv the union of the Associate' and

HISTORY OF IVESTMORELAND COUNTY. 2gi

Associate Reformed Presbyterian Churches at Old City Hall in the city of
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, May 26, 1858.

The United Presbyterian Church, as one of the distinctive branches holding
the Calvinistic faith, dates its origin back to the later years of Charles II and
James II. This denomination in the United States heads at many fountains.
While these at the Union in 1858 had gathered into the two main branches, the
Associate and Associate Reformed, the body traces a considerable portion of its
followers back to the Scotch Covenanters, those "Mountain Men" and "Hill
]\Ien," who, following the battle of Bothwell Bridge and outlawry by the
Stuarts, held their Conventicles for worship in the hills under the guidance of
Cameron, Cargill and Renwick, leaders who were soon after to wear the crown
of martyrdom.

The entrance of this "psalm-singing" denomination into Westmoreland
county is coincident with the earliest settlements established in the county.
\\'herever Scotch-Irish families built their cabins and hewed their farms out
of the wilderness, like the Pilgrim fathers in Xew England, they established
the church and school. Among the earliest settlements to establish worship
according to Associate Reformed Presbyterian (now United Presbyterian)
standards were the settlements at Hannastown and New Alexandria. Rev.
John Jamison preached at these places as early as 1792, and exercised pastoral
oversight over the scattered families of the faith until the New Alexandria
congregation was organized, August 19. 1805. Soon after the organization
of the congregation Rev. Dr. Alungo Dick became pastor and remained in
pastoral charge until 1816.

Rev. John Jamison, above referred to, had an eventful and busy life. Upon
his mother's side he was descended from Sir William Wallace, and on his
father's side from the royal line of Bruce. He was graduated by St. Andrew's
University, and received his theological training under the celebrated John
Brown, of Haddington, who formulated the Westminster Confession of Faith,
promulgated by the famous body of Westminster divines. Jamison was li-
censed to preach by a burgher Presbytery of Scotland, and in 1783 migrated
to Pennsylvania and entered upon his first pastorate at Big Springs, later re-
moving to Hannastown. He was a man of robust frame, more than six feet
tall, quick in temper, unbending in will, kindly in disposition, yet withal a ter-
ror to evil-doers, an able preacher, and a leader among men. He was a man
of tireless energy. During his ministry he labored in thirty-six fields, in twen-
ty-five of which there are now strong United Presbyterian congregations. He
is said to be the first minister who preached north of the Conemaugh river.
After his pastorate at Xew Alexandria he removed to Crete, Indiana county,
where he died and was buried in 1821. The other pastors of the New Alex-
andria church have been Rev. Jonathan G. Fulton, John W. Dufif, Matthew
Clark, Oliver Katz and Samuel Collins, D. D., who gave to this congregation
the evening of his days in a ministry that extended over a period of fifty-nine
years. Rev. J. B. Pollock is the present pastor. The centennial of this con-

292

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

gregation's formal organization was celebrated in its handsome new church
home in October, 1905.

Another point where the church was early established was on the banks of
the Pockety creek, in Allegheny township. In 1794 a nucleus of people com-
posed of the Ross, Reed, and other families held services and petitioned the
presbvtery for preaching. Revs. Joseph Kerr and Dr. Alungo Dick, and later,
Rev. Mathew Henderson, all pioneer ministers of western Pennsylvania, occa-
sionally held services. Living at remote distances, these ministers were com-
pelled to journey on horseback to fill their appointments, through unsettled
portions of country, beset by dangers from unbridged streams, wild beasts and
prowling savages. Their compensation for this hard work was very small.
Rev. James McConnell, the first settled pastor, was installed September 4, 181 1.
The first log church was built in 1815. Rev. McConnell was another pupil of
John Brown, of Haddington. He remained pastor of the congregation until
1833. The church was burned in May, 1836, but in 1837 a new house of wor-
ship was erected. Rev. Jonathan G. Fulton became pastor in 1838. He re-
mained but a year and two months. Mr. Fulton, whom many yet living re-
member, was one of the most logical, eloquent and earnest preachers that ever
served the denomination. The succeeding pasto.rs have been Revs. W. A. I\Ic-
Kinney, J. W. Dufif, John C. Bryson, James Given, M. M. Patterson, D. D., C.
H. Marshall, J. B. Mclsaack, and L. R. Peacock. In 1897 the brick church was
burned, and in 1898 the present fine frame structure was erected. The Watts,
McGearys, Crooks, Rosses, Stewarts, Andersons and Hunnells are among the
substantial people connected with this church. The congregation celebrated
its centennial October 13, 1904.

In 1802 the Associa-te Reformed Church of 'Sit. Pleasant was organized.
Like many of its sisters, the services were first held in a tent with a bean] ].iulpit
erected therein. The promoters of this organization were the Andrews fam-
ilies, who a few years before had come from Ireland, and the Wardens, the an-
cestors of the Warden family of Mt. Pleasant, who had come from the
north of Ireland in 1765. Rev. Dr. Mungo Dick, born at Fifeshire, Scotland,
in 1772, educated at the University of Edinburgh, was settled as the first pas-
tor in 1806, in connection with Sewickley and New Alexandria. He was re-
garded as one of the ablest preachers of his day. He served the congregation
for sixteen years. After a vacancy of fifteen years. Rev. Richard Gaily became
pastor in 1839 and remained for ten years. Rev. D. H. Pollock followed with
a pastorate of four years, until 1853. In 1856 Rev. James H. Fife became
pastor, until his death in 1861. The fifth pastor was Rev. A. B. Fields, for^
four years. In August, 1871, Rev. John A. Nelson was installed and remained
pastor for four years. Rev. Robert B. Taggart, now of Harriman, Tennessee,
was installed in 1877 and served the congregation for six years. He is one of
the most erudite linguists and church historians in his denomination. The
present pastor. Rev. Howard S. Wilson, was installed in 1884, this being his
first and onlv charge.

HISTORY OF ]VESTMORELAND COUNTY

293

In the later years of the eighteenth century httle colonies of Seceders set-
tled in the Ligonier \'alley, near Fort Palmer, Fort Ligoni.er, and Donegal
township. These were troublous times ; the restless savages were a constant
source of danger and the people built their cabins within easy reach of the forts
and lilockhouses, to which they were compelled to flee for refuge from the
turbulent Indians. \'ery early after these settlements were made, Associate
Presbyterian congregations were organized at Fairfield, within hailing dis-
tance of Fort Palmer, and in Donegal township. Rev. John Cree served as
pastor from 1803 to 1806, after which these congregations, so far as can be
learned, were vacant until October 18, 1815, when Rev. Dr. Joseph Scroggs, to
whom we have referred at length elsewhere in these pages, became pastor.
The field of Dr. Scrogg's ministry has been prolific of preachers in the United
Presbyterian ministry. Rev. Dr. James P. Lytle, Revs. Joseph Scroggs, James
D. Lytle, R. H. Pollock, T. C. Pollock, Andrew Graham, William Graham,
Joseph McKelvey, A. \\ . Lytle, D. P. Smith, T. :\I. Huston, Allen A. Graham
and S. Alvin Work were reared under his spiritual oversight. Rev. A. R.
Rankin, Rev. Dr. G. C. Vincent, D. D., LL. D., W. H. Vincent, D. D.,
T. M. Jamison, and R. H. Rockwell have since ministered to the congregation.
Since Dr. Scroggs' death the pastors of Ligonier and Fairfield have been Rev.
W. H. Vincent, D. D., Revs. T. :\I. Jamison. R. H. Rockwell and W. T.
Brownlee, the present pastor.

The congregation of West Fairfield was organized in 1874. Its pastors
have been Revs. D. W. ]\IcLane, J. S. Hill, R. E. Stewart, and S. M. Black,
the present pastor. New Florence congregation was .organized in 1875. ^^^
pastors have b^en the above named and Rev. J. W. Smith. It is now vacant.

The Associate Reformed congregation of Sewickley was organized m 1805.
Rev. Dr. IMungo Dick was pastor 1806-36; Rev. Richard Gaily from 1839-49;
Rev. A. G. Fergus in 1851 ; Rev. D. H. Pollock, 1854-60; W. L. McConnell,
1860-65; J- D. Walkinshaw, 1865-69; W. R. Stevenson, 1872-81 ; J. A. Law-
rence. 1884-86; D. M. Thorne, 1887-97. J- H. McCormick, 1899-1901 ; and
\\. N. Leeper, 1902 to 1904. This old congregation is the mother of the West
Newton and Madison congregations. Its old brick church is one of the land-
marks of that community. It was the home for many years of Dr. Dick, who
gave two of his sons to the ministry, John M. Dick, D. D., and Rev. J. M. Dick,
the latter for many years a home missionary on the Pacific slope.

The Associate Reformed congregation of Brush Creek (now Bethel) near
Circleville, is the oldest organized church of the denomination in the county,
and was organized in 1784. Rev. Mathew Henderson served as pastor from
1785 to 1788, and from 1800 to 1818. Rev. John Jamison, 1793-95. James
\\'alker, 1820-23. Dr. Mungo Dick, 1824-35. Joseph Osborne, 1836-47.
\\'illiam Conner, 1849-52. A. G. Wallace. D. D., 1854-68. J. W. McFarland,
1869-71. W. H. McMaster, 1871-74. John N. Dick. D. D., 1877-89. IMajcr
E. Dunn, 1892 to 1901, and D. D. Dodds, the present pastor, from 1902. This
congregation is the mother of the United Presbvterian congregation of Irwin.

294

IIISIORV OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

Stewart Station and Duffsville. DutTsville was organized September 28,
1896, and has since its organization been connected with Bethel.

Irwin Statipn congregation was organized October 17, 1874. Its pastors
have been Revs. J. W. jMcFraland, 1869-71 : E. N. ^IcElree, D. D., 1875-79;

C. B. Hatch, 1880-83: J. M. Atchison. D. D., 1884-98, and E. C. Paxton, the
present pastor since 1898.

Stewarts' Station was organized January 5, 1869. Its pastors have been
Revs. D. A. Duff from 1871 to 1879; W. S. Fulton in 1881. and A. D. McCar-
rell since 1881. The Stewarts, Shaws, Millers and others have been prominent
in its work.

Union Congregation, near Sardis, was organized August 7, 1858. Rev. ].

D. Walkinshaw served as pastor from i860 to 1865; S. B. McBride, 1870-77;
R. A. Jamison, 1878-88, and J. L. Thorne, the present pastor, from 1891 to
the present.

Alurraysville was organized October 12, 1877. ^ts pastors have been Rev.
A. R. Rankin, 1879 to 1886; J. I\I. Imbrie, 1891 to 1895; Charles Stunkard,
the present pastor since 1895.

Beulah, near Claridge, was organized June 14, 1844. Rev. William Con-
ner served as pastor from 1844 to 1857; J. D. Walkinshaw, 1860-65: T. H.
Boyd, 1868-74. From 1879 to the present it has been in union with Murrays-
ville, and the pastors have been Revs. A. R. Rankin, J. M. Imbrie and Charles
Stunkard.

Parnassus was organized February 4, 1876. Rev. C. H. Marshall was pas-
tor from 1885 to 1889: George Whiteside, 1891-97, and J. M. Atchison, the
present pastor, from 1898.

Shearersburg was organized August 19, 1898, largely from Puckety. Its
pastors have been Revs. J. B. Mclsaac, from 1898 to 1900, and L. K. Peacock
from 1 90 1 to the present.

Vandergrift congregation was organized December 10, 1898. The con-
gregation, although one of the youngest, is strong and active, with a fine brick
church and a devoted people. The pastors have been Rev. J. E. Walker from
1899 to 1901 : and C. R. Stevenson from 1901 to the present.

The Monessen Mission was established in 1903. Rev. J. Isl. Jamison, Jr..
has charge. Youngwood Mission was established in 1903. Revs. A. M. Reed,
W. N. Leeper served as stated supplies. Rev. W. E. Baird now has charge.

West Newton Associate Reformed congregation was organized November
5, 1850, largely from Sewickley. Its pastors have been Revs. A. G. Fergus,
185 1 : D. H. Pollock, 1854-60: W. L. McConnell, 1860-65; J- D. Walkinshaw,
1865-69; W. R. Stevenson, 1872-81, and Rev. Dr. J. S. Garvin from 1882 unti!
the present time. This congregation has always been one of the solid conserva-
tive prosperous congregations in the county. It has a fine church building, a
splendid record of liberality to the philanthropies of the denomination, and a
membership strong in numbers and character.

The Scottdale congregation was organized July 22. 1875. ^^^'- R- B. Tag-

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 293

gart, of the Alount Pleasant church, served as pastor from 1879 to 1883; Rev.
J. M. :\Ioore, 1885-88; J. D. Pahner, 1889-91: J. H. Morhead, 1895-98; and
Rev. H. W. Miller from 1900 to the present time.

Latrobe was organized May 25, 1853. Rev. William Conner served the
congregation from 1853 to 1857; Rev. J. Buff Jackson, 1873-77; ^^v. Josias
Stevenson. 1878-82 ; Rev. G. C. Vincent, D. D., "LL. D., 1885-89 ; Rev. A. W.
Lytle, 1890-92: and Rev. J. S. Hill, the present pastor from 1893. The con-
gregation has made rapid strides under tlie present pastorate. It has a tine
church building and parsonage.

Bolivar congregation was organized August 20, 1899. Rev. D. S. Tinker
has been the only pastor. The congregation has a fine new church building,
and has had substantial growth.

The Jeannette congregation was organized in 1890, and its building erected
the same year. Its first regular pastor was Rev. D. H. Graham, in 1893, who
served until 1897: Rev. T. L. Jamison. 1897 and 1898: Rev. J. H. Leitch, 1899
till 1903 ; and Rev. J. T. Wright from 1904 to the present.

Greensburg's organization is of comparatively recent origin. Its history is
one of trial and vicissitude. For years beset with discouragement, chilled by
indifference, depleted by removals and hampered by want of a house of wor-
ship, the congregation labored on with a zeal and persistance until it has at-
tained prosperity.

In response to a petition presented to Presbytery, ]May 29, 1855, Rev.
Jonathan G. Fulton by appointment preached June 3, 1855. The interest was
such that further appointments were filled by Mr. Fulton. The active and
liberal promoters were Gordon M. Lyon, James C. Clark, H. M. Jamison,
William Welsh, C. R. Painter and Andrew Graham, many of whose descend-
ants are still actively identified with the church. In 1857 an organization was
formed, twenty-six members being enrolled, but one of whom (Mrs. Mary A.
Lyon, widow of Gordon A[. Lyon) now remains in the congregation. William
McCall, Joseph Greer and H. ]\I. Jamison were elected elders. In 1858, by
death and removal of two members of session, the congregation became dis-
organized, but was reorganized in 1861 by the election of Gordon M. Lyon and
W. H. Barr to the session. From time to time the congregation was united
with the Xew Alexandria, Mt. Pleasant and Latrobe congregations, and by
courtesy of other denominations its services were held in their churches. Dur-
ing the war the congregation again became disorganized by the absence of W.
H. Barr and Joseph Greer in the army, leaving Gordon M. Lyon the only
resident member of session. Greatly discouraged and disheartened by deaths
and removals, a few faithful ones struggled on maintaining ordinances until
September, 1872, when the congregation was reorganized with thirty-seven
members. After the decease of Rev. J. G. Fulton, who had labored long and
faithfully, April 8, 1873, Rev. J. Buff Jackson was ordained and installed pastor
over the United charge o'i Greensburg and Latrobe, and so remained until Jan-
uary, 1876. January i, 1878, Rev. Josiah Stevenson became pastor, and

296 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

served until June, 1884. The Sabbath School was organized in November,
1872, Hon. James C. Clark being the first superintendent. In 1880 the present
brick church was erected at the corner of Pennsylvania avenue and Third
street, and was dedicated June 20, 1881, with the presence of the Westmoreland
Presbytery.

Rev. J. A. Brandon became pastor in June, 1885, and served for two years.
In February, 1888, Rev. H. S. Boyd was installed pastor, and so continued
imtil February i, 1894. The present pastor, Rev. John A. Douthett, D. D.,
began his labors in June, 1894. The congregation has thus far been served by
five pastors, covering a period of thirty-three years. The leading forces of the
congregation have been the Clarks, Lyons, Welshs, Greers, Johnstons, Gra-
hams, Ludwicks, Baers, Irwins, Davidsons, Cliffords, Fultons, Bells, Watts,
Leasures, Gills, Laughreys, and many others.

THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

In October, 1766, nine years before the passage of the act creating the
county of Westmoreland, the first Methodist meeting was held in New York
City, in the house of Philip Embury, who had been a local preacher in Ireland.
Mrs. Barabara Hick gathered the congregation. She found four persons will-
ing to attend, she herself made the fifth, and with the preacher, six persons con-
stituted the congregation. Such was the humble beginning of Methodism in
America. It was not until 1769 that John Wesley sent two preachers to the
Colonies. The growth of Methodism was for some years confined to the
eastern shores and then the itinerants began their journey southward to Y\r-
ginia and the Carolinas and to Georgia. The Revolution beginning in 1775
was a decided check to the spread of Methodism. The preachers of that time
were Englishmen ; many of them were Tories in their sympathies, and those
who were not were under suspicion.

Western Pennsylvania was, at the time that Methodism began in New York,
a battleground between the French, the Indians and the English. Settlers who
had only squatters' or traders' rights followed Braddock's expedition and began
to settle along his route in 1755. More followed in the wake of Forbes in
1758, and the first settlers' permits were issued between 1755 and 1769. The first
actual settlement by Pennsylvania authority was in 1769, the Stanwix Pur-
chase having been made the preceeding year. The settlers were Scotch-Irish
traders and Dutch farmers.

The only part of Great Britain in which \\'esley himself had made little
direct impression was Scotland. The Dutch, so far as they were inclined to-
wards religion, were Lutheran and Reformed. Preachers from the Cumber-
land Valley established Presbyterian churches here and there, and the Lutheran
and German Reformed ministers were early on the ground. The first Metho-
dist sermon preached in Pittsburgh was by Rev. Wilson Lee, in 1785. Lee was
preacher in charge of the Redstone circuit. Three years later Charles Conway
was sent to the newly formed circuit of Pittsburgh ; at the close

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUSTY. 297

of the conference year he reported no members. He was returned the next
year It is not likely that there were then many Methodists within what is
now Westmoreland county. In julv, 1789. Bishop Asbtiry writes in his jour-
nal ■ "I passed through Greenshurg, dined at Rowletts, six miles from Greens-
buro- and went to Pittsburgh." There he preached in the evening. "This,
he writes, "is the dav of small things. What can we hope? Yet what can we
fear"? In I/Sj. Redstone circuit made its first appearance among the ap-
pointments of the Baltimore conference. The wide journeyings of John Cooper
and Samuel Breeze, with their thirty preaching places, doubtless took in the
portions of Westmoreland that lay along the Youghiogheny and Monongahela
riyers. W'e read of the society formed by them at the forks of the Yough-
iogheny. Here Benjamin Fell, with his wife, ten sons and daughters, the
wrdow Beazell and her large family, formed the nucleus of what soon grew
into a large congregation. In 1788 Jacob Surton and Lasley Mathews, then
■on the Redstone circuit, formed the first Methodist society in the Ligonier
\alley. In this neighborhood lived Robert Morgan Roberts, who with his
family afterward johied the ]\Iethodists. One of his sons, Robert Rickford
Roberts, afterwards entered the Methodist ministry, was elected a bishop in
i8i6, and died in Indiana, March 26, 1843. His father moved tQ Westmore-
land county in 1785, when the future bishop was seven years old. "The Life
of Bishop Roberts," now a rare book of great value, is valuable not only as the
record of the labors of a great and useful man, but as history of the early
frontier conditions and customs. We read in it descriptions of the early Scotch-
Irish school teachers and their methods. In the school which young Roberts
attended, reading, writing and arithmetic were all the branches then taught,
but the instruction in these was thorough. ;\Ir. McAbee taught near Mr.
Fisher's, three and a half miles from the Roberts home. The future bishop
worked for his board at ]\IcCracken's. The discipline of this school had the old
Irish features, ^^'hen a boy became unruly, and an ordinary whipping with a
rod did not have the desired effect, the last punishment was "horsing." The
refractory boy was mounted on the back of another, or, if there were two, they
interchanged the office of horse and rider. The "cat with nine tails" was then
freely applied. On one occasion, when a bad boy was mounted on the back of
another, and Mr. McAbee was about to apply the "cat," young Roberts offered
himself as security for the boy and agreed to take a horsing if the boy did not
Ijehave, and his offer was accepted. In 1785 the "Life of Bishop Roberts"
states that the people of Ligonier Valley, as far as they were religious, were
generally Presbyterians and Seceders. The standards of conduct were not
high. Dancing, shooting matches and drinking were the customary diversions.
It was not unusual for some of the elders of the church to become intoxicated.
In tlie Ligonier Valley of these times there lived a Quaker named Abel
Fisher, who was regarded as a singular character because he would not drink,
and because he was unusually moral and upright in his life. He joined the
:\Iethodists, and did much to establish the denomination in that section. His

298 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

son, Abel Fisher, became one of the best known laymen in Western Penns3-1-
vania Methodism. His intelligence and pnrity of life gave him a much more
than local influence. He lived till 1876.

A Methodist society was formed at an early date at the Black Lick set-
tlement of Mr. Wakefield, the grandfather of the late Dr. Samuel Wakefield.
The early Methodist societies were nearly all along the mountains and ridges.
\Mien the rich lands of the Scioto and other Ohio valleys and the Shenango
lands were opened for settlement, the Methodist itinerants who knew^ the
country well, as they journeyed back and forth, were instrumental in persuading
many of the owners of ridge and mountain farms to emigrate westward and to
the north. This at an early day weakened Methodism in Westmoreland
county.

In the rich farming regions of what is now Westmoreland county, Metho-
dism was slow in taking root. Other denominations were in possession. In
the first attempts to plant i\Iethodism some of the foremost men of the church
took part. AIcKendree, Asbury, Valentine Cook and Lorenzo Dow often
preached and labored within the present limits of our county. Valentine Cook
was on Redstone circuit for one year, and on the Pittsburgh district for twO'
years. At a later date Bishop Henry B. Bascom, Asa Shinn, Wesley Kenney,
Thornton Flemming, Charles , Elliott, Charles Cooke, and John J. Swayzee
were all heard repeatedly within the limits of our county. All of them were
preachers of the highest order, and men who subsequently achieved national
fame.

Short as was Valentine Cook's ministry in Western Pennsylvania, his in-
fluence for the church was great. He was a kinsman of Captain Cook, the
navigator. He came to the Redstone circuit in 1792, having preached but four
years before that. He had been a diligent student at Cokesbury College. He
was over six feet in height, of dark complexion, coarse, black hair, deepset eyes,
large nose, and an unusually large mouth. He was absent-minded, eccen-
tric, absolved in thought, and over-fired with zeal for his church, yet .Amer-
ican jMethodism has not had a more eloquent man in all its history than \'alen-
tine Cook. The restlessness of the explorer was in his veins. The traditions
of his eJoquence still live in Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee. In 1796, while
on the Pittsburgh district, ]\Ir. Cook accepted a challenge for a public discus-
sion from a Seceder minister. The discussion took place in a grove near
Congruity. People came to it forty and fifty miles. The Methodists were
somewhat downcast when they saw their unprepossessing-looking advocate.
The Scotchman arrived rather late, but said, "I'm here in ample time to give the
youngster a dose from which he will not soon recover." For two hours the
Methodist church and its doctrines, after the fashion of public discussions of
that day, were bitterly assailed. But when Mr. Cook began to speak his per-
sonal appearance seemed to change. He overwhelmed the audience from the
beginning. His opponent cried out, "W^olf, wolf, in sheep's clothing." When
he cnnlcl endure it no longer, he sprang to his feet and cried out, "Follow me.

HISTORY OF IVESTMORELAXD COUXTV. 299

follow me, leave the babbler to himself." Some few left, but the majority re-
mained. As Cook discussed infant salvation and the provisions of the atone-
ment, the audience rose from their seats and stood in enraptured silence.
When he quit speaking they crowded around the rude platform and remained
long after he had finished. Bishop Roberts, then a boy, had walked from
Ligonier to hear the discussion. Long afterward he wrote in the highest terms
of the effort of Cook, and said that he heard one elderly man say to another,
"Did ye ever hear such a man"? His companion answered, with apparent ex-
citement and solicitude, "Ye are in great danger of being led captive by the
devil at his will. Ha'e ye never heard how that Satan can transform himself
into an angel of light that he may deceive the very elect, if it were possible ? I
tell you, sir, he is a dangerous man, and the less we have to do with him the
better for us." The age of such discussions has long since passed, but they
were common then, and now they but illustrate the methods by which different
religions were implanted in early Westmoreland.

The name of Rev. Samuel Wakefield is prominently connected with Aletho-
dism in \\'estmoreland county. He was born March 6, 1799, and died Septem-
ber 13, 1895. On June 11, 1819, he walked with his father thirteen miles ta
wh.ere New Florence now stands, to attend a Methodist meeting. The meeting
was conducted by John Jasper Wirsing, a local preacher of great native power,
who had served as a soldier under Napoleon. There Samuel Wakefield went
forward and gave his name to the church. He had been a wild young m.an.
but of considerable education for his day. His love for music made him a
prominent factor in dancing parties, and when he joined the church an old lady
cried out. "Thank God, the devil has lost his fiddler." Two months afterward
he began to preach, and preached the gospel for seventy-six years. He was a
great student, and his pen was seldom idle. He published works- on music^
taught singing schools, and divided with James G. Samson the fame of the
sweetest singer of Methodism. His work on Theology was for years a stand-
ard, and may yet be consulted with profit. Most of his years in the ministry
were spent as pastor of the churches in this county, and he was always a con-
cise writer and a strong preacher. He spent the evening of his life at West
Xewton, preaching almost constantly even to the last.

Space forbids the mention of the great number of preachers of the Methodist
church who have ministered to the people of this coimty. Though slow in its-
youth in the early years of last century. Methodism has increased very rapidly
in the last fifty years. The conference minutes for 1905 show that within the
present bounds of the county there are thirty-six regular pastors, and that the
church has 9,159 members, with an enrollment in the Sunday schools of 91 13.

THE REFORMED CHURCH.

When our early Pennsylvania German or pure German pioneers first came
to ^^'estmoreland county they brought no ministers with them, nor did they
h;ive any ministers for many years after they began to form congregations.

300 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

The duties usually performed by a minister outside of the pulpit, such as bap-
tizing, performing the marriage ceremony, reading the burial service, etc.,
were performed by the schoolmasters. They very early built rude churches,
and near by they built a schoolhouse. Often the schoolhouse came first, and
served as a church till a church could be built. Before they had either school-
houses or churches they designated the house of some German Reform or
Lutheran pioneer which was centrally located, and at his house services were
lield. Occasionally they had a regular preacher to. come to them from the
■east, where they were more numerous, and on such occasions they had a
:series of services which not infrequently lasted a week or more.

The German Protestants in Pennsylvania all sprang from the Reformation
started by Martin Luther in the sixteenth century. Here they formed two
branches, known distinctly as the German Reformed and the Lutheran
•churches. At the early period in our history of which we are now writing, and,
indeed, up to 1869. the first named branch was popularly and properly known
.as the German Reformed church. At that time a general synod met in Phila-
delphia and dropped the word "German," and since then have been known as
■the Reformed church. The church did not differ widely in general doctrine or
belief from the Presbyterian church. Sometimes it was supposed to be a Ger-
man branch of Presbyterianism, but this was not the case. Both the Reformed
churches and the Lutheran churches were kept up almost entirely by the Ger-
man speaking people of Europe. These two churches were bound together by
lineage, by speaking the same language, and by using the same liturgies.
They were governed by the same pastoral authority, and made about the same
professions of faith. It so happened that both congregations frequently wor-
:shipped in the same church or schoolhouse. Both churches have Presbyterian
forms of government in contradistinction to the Episcopal, or Papal, or Con-
gregational governments of other churches. Both the German Reformed and
the Lutheran churches were and are yet governed by the minister and certain
representatives from the congregation, so far as the immediate government of
the society i*s concerned. The higher governmental body of the Reformed
church is called the "Classis."

The German Reformed church and the Lutheran church were much more
nearly united in former years than they are now. In their early years in our
state the nearest pastor of either church was asked to baptize the children of a
family, to perform a marriage ceremony, or read the last sad rites of the dead,
and this almost without regard to the church to which they belonged.

As we have said, the first church services in our county were without a
mniister. They brought with them an inherent desire to be religious, and
doubtless failed to bring with thciii and support a minister, because of the few-
ness of their number and their poverty. Their church services consisted in
meeting at tlie house of sctme German Reformed or Lutheran family, it mat-
tered little which, and reading the Bibl& and offering prayers from a German
prayer book. It then became the duty of the schoolmaster to catechise the

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 301,

children and baptise them. By this means they held their people together till,
they could afford both churches and preachers. When a pastor was finally en-
gaged for a church, they came long distances to attend services. At Brusli
Creek, it is said that in former days they frequently came as much as twenty
miles or more, and brought with them their children.

The German Reformed and the Lutheran churches also owned nearly all
their church property in common. They worshipped alternately in these
churches, and quite often their ministers performed services for each other.
Alembers of these churches intermarried more than in other churcnes, and
w^ere buried finally side by side in the common graveyard.

The early members secured land while it was very cheap, and put up a log
church. Near by they erected a small ho.use for the pastor. They also built
a schoolhouse, and sometimes a house for the schoolmaster to live in. The
pastor's house always had some extra land attached, so that he might dig a part
of his living from the earth. They also provided for a cemetery, or graveyard,,
as it was generally called, and, be it said to their honor, they were unusually
careful to mark the last resting places of their dead with tombstones. From,
their inscriptions a great many dates and other matters relative to pioneer his-
tory have been gathered. One is well repaid by making a visit to the Harrold.
church graveyard, near the oldest of the German Refomied churches in West-
moreland county. Most of the gravestones are from a nearby quarry. In an
early day they were dressed and carved by an ordinary stone cutter named
Hines, who belonged to the cliurch. While the carving and lettering is some-
times very crude, and almost amusing to our generation, they tell well the
story of the primitive condition of our early people.

Harrold church was founded by the German Reformed people at least as.
early as August, 1772, for on that date the schoolmaster, Balthazer Meyer,
officiated and baptised a child named Peter Walter. He was the schoolmaster
who held the services in place of a preacher whom the members at that time
felt themselves too poor to support. This he continued for a period of ten
}ears, until the organization had increased enough to call a minister. At that
time, 1782, Rev. John William Weber was sent here perhaps on trial, but most
likely as a missionary. At all events he remained with them for thirty-eight
years. He had four charges, viz. : Harrold's and Brush Creek, in Hempfield
township, and Kintig's in Mt. Pleasant township, and Ridge church, south of
Pleasant Unity, in Unity township. He had also a small charge in Pittsburgh to-
whom he preached occasionally, and he traveled a great deal over Ligonier \'al-
ley and over all other parts of the county where he thought he might start new
organizations. Many places where he went for perhaps but one member, have-
now large congregations. Two other ministers who followed him to this county
were Rev. Henry Harbison and William Winel. These ministers and their
people were under the Old Synod o.f the United States. The first Classis was
composed of all ministers west of Bedford county, and was called the Western
Pennsylvania Classis. In 1836 it was joined to the Ohio Synod, and in 1842

^02

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

it was changed into the \\'estmoreland Classis. It remained with the Ohio
Synod till 1870, when, on the formation of the Pittsburgh Synod, it became a
part of it.

Rev. John William \\'eber, the first pastor of this church in our county,
was born in Germany, ]\Iarch 4, 1735- He was early in life a school teacher,
and came to America about 1764. Shortly after his arrival here he was li-
censed to preach, and preached first in Monroe county. A German traveler be-
fore quoted, named Schoepf, who passed through that section of Pennsylvania
in 1782, speaks of passing several fine farms owned and managed by Germans,
and of finally coming to a rude log church which had been built by the Ger-
man Refcrmed and Lutheran people under the ministry of Rev. Weber. In a
document written by Weber himself, he says he came to this country in 1782,
and that his salary was 116 pounds, 100 bushels of wheat, free house rent, and
free firewood all the year. The traveler Schoepf met him in Pittsburgh again
the same year. He says there was no church there then, but that there was a
German preacher who ministers to believing persons of different confessions.
These were doubtless organized by Rev. Weber into a congregation. He
preached and rode a great deal, and always catechised the young on his visits
among his members. He was an able man, and well suited to lay the founda-
tion of a church in a new country. In personal appearance he was a fine look-
ing portly man, of great physical strength, and thus enabled to endure the great
labor and hardships incident to the missionary work of a new country. All
his life he was noted for boldly denouncing the wrongs of the community ; for
preaching strong, forcible sermons which could not be misunderstood. He
preached occasionally in Pittsburgh as late as 1812, and died in 1816, aged
eighty-two years. A more extended review of his life is given in Harbaugh's
"Fathers of the Reformed Church."

One of the greatest men the Reformed Church ever had in Westmoreland
county was Rev. Nicholas P. Hacke, D. D., who began to preach here when
the county was a wilderness, and continued in the work till his death, August
26, 1878. He was born in Baltimore, and sent to Germany for his early edu-
cation. He studied theology in his native city under a Reformed minister and
came to Greensburg in 1819. At that time he took charge of the German Re-
formed Church of Greensburg, Harrold's and Brush Creek. His first sermons
here were preached in the court house, for they were then building a new
church on South Main street, and until it was finished they used the Temple
of Justice as a house of worship. He also during his long ministry had at
various times, charge of Ridge, Ligonier, Youngstown, Hills, Seanors and
Manor congregations, but only for a year or so at each place, when they were
without regular pastors.

He was closely associated with the prominent men of the county who were
outside of the church or in other churches. There were few young men in
professional life who did not seek his acquaintance. He was intellectually far
above even the average ministers of his church. His wit, his learning and his

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 303

excellent judgment of human nature drew aruund him men Hke Judge Burrcll.
Dr. King and Senator Cowan, who were all unusually bright men, but not
members of his church. Their friendships were therefore purely intellectual.
The preacher was more than an average preacher. He" was a Christian phil-
osopher who in any age of the world would have occupied a prominent place
among his fellowmen. But he, like Henry Ward Beecher, though great in
many lines of human thought, was greatest in the pulpit. For fifty-eight years
he sustained himself here in Greensburg, and did so. mainly by sheer force of
his intellectual power. He was an omniverous reader, and was always well
informed on the scientific and political questions of the day. After a popular
wave in morals, politics, or religion passed over the country, his friends not
infrequently waited to hear Dr. Hacke's opinion of it before taking sides. It
was always an opinion based on a good understanding of the subject, and on
sound judgment.

He had great difficulty with his people in effecting a change from the Ger-
man to the English language. The old members wanted to adhere to the Ger-
man tongue, because they knew but little about the English language, while
the young people knew and spoke the English language w-ell but knew very
little of the German. He knew that the change must come in all English
speaking communities like ours. For himself, he spoke or wrote equally well
in either language, but saw the advantage of the young people being taught
thoroughly in the predominant language of the country. His diplomacy was
shown ip the fact that he managed the transition without disrupting the church ;
his liberality is shown in his leaning towards the English language, because its
adoption would greatly benefit the rising generation, though he himself was of
pure Saxon blood, with no trace of the English in his make up. When he
died he was sadly missed by all who knew him, without respect to their re-
ligious beliefs. On the day of his funeral all stores and business houses in
Greensburg were closed out of respect to his memory. He was buried in the
old German burying ground in Greensburg.

The Greensburg Seminary was established by the Reformed Church. The
resolution authorizing its founding was passed by the trustees of the Literary
Institutions of the Pittsburgh Synod, March 3, 1874. Rev. Lucian Court was
placed at its head. Under supervision the grounds were purchased and the
necessary buildings were soon under process of construction. The location is
a beautiful one overlooking the town of Greensburg and the surrounding
country. The building is of brick, and is arranged for boarding and rooming
pupils, for recitations, and public educational meetings. It was formally
opened April 7, 1875, less than a year after the ground was purchased. At
first it was exclusively an institution for the education of young women, but
in 1878 a system of co-education was introduced and this has proved a great
advantage to both the institution and the community. The Seminary was
largely patronized by both the Reformed and the Lutheran churches and by
all other denominations in the community. Its greatest patronage probably

304 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

came from the Lutheran church, which was particularly strong in this vicinity.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church, commonly called the Lutheran Church,
is a very strong organization in Westmoreland county. They are Protestants
who hold the doctrines of theology as taught by Martin Luther and as con-
tained in the Augsburg Confession. This was written by Philip Alelanchton,
and was read in the presence of Charles V, Emperor of Germany, at the Diet
of Augsburg, on June 25, 1530. The Confession has since obtained a per-
manent place in the literature of the Christian world, having been translated
into every modern language. It is now the guiding star in religion of millions
of people in the United States.

The first Lutherans in Westmoreland county were nearly all Germans, or
people of Germ?n extraction. Their early records were written in the Germarr
language almost exclusively. Fifty or seventy-five years later these records
fell into the hands of English speaking people who were not able to translate
them, and who therefore unfortunately did not preserve them. The early work
of the church is accordingly largely a matter of tradition. That there were
many Lutherans here before the county was formed in 1773, is undoubted,
for their presence is well proved by our early records. The Detars, the Rughs,
the Gongawares, the INIillers, the Harrolds, the Altmans, the Longs, all were
originally Lutherans and had taken up land in Hempfield township between
1760 and 1770. There were also Lutherans in other sections of the county in
that period, so that it can safely be said that the Lutheran church in West-
moreland began with its early settlement shortly after the construction of the
Forbes road. Like all other early churches, they met at first in private houses,
and, when they were without ministers, such services were performed by the
school teacher. The schoolmaster had perhaps no special claim in the per-
formances of these offices except that he could read, and many of the early
settlers could not. At these from house-to-house meetings they read the Bible,
had prayers and singing, and sometimes the teacher read a sermon or per-
haps oftener made some remarks which took the place and partook of the na-
ture of a sermon. The ceremony of baptism was performed by laymen as well
as by schoolmasters. This was the case for several years at Harrold's Church,
the Lutheran branch of whose worshipers \yere called "Zion's Church." The
records made by Balthazer Meyer indicates that he baptized children of Luth-
eran as well as of the Reformed Church, from 1772 to 1782, and that the
Lutheran Church was also without a pastor for all these years. The same
was done at Brush Creek, a congregation organized a few . years after the
Harrold congregation.

The first Lutheran preacher who settled in Westmoreland county was Rev.
A. L". Liitje. He had been born and educated in Germany, and came to Har-
rold Church in 1782. He preached there about ten years and accomplished a
great deal for the church organization. The first church at Harrold's was
built of logs, and had a puncheon floor. It had no pews, but rough benches
witliout backs, and all its arrangements were made in the same primitive style.

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 305

It was Rev. Liitje who secured the land for the church organizations at Har-
rold's, that is, for the German Reformed and the Lutheran churches. This
tract of land contained about seventy acres, and was held in common by the
two congregations. Rev. Liitje also preached to the congregation of Brush
Creek and many other places in the county, though these (Harrold's and Brush
Creek) were undoubtedly the fields of his greatest labors.

In 1791 Rev. John ]\I. Steck came from the eastern part of Pennsylvania
and settled in Greensburg. He was born in Germany, and when he succeeded
Rev. Liitje was thirty-five years old. Here he continued in the ministry till
his death, July 14, 1830, a period of thirty-eight years. He was an energetic
worker, and accomplished much for his church. At his death he left a son,
Rev. Michael J. Steck, who succeeded him as pastor of the Greensburg con-
gregation.

Rev. John M. Steck is probably entitled to first rank among the Lutheran
ministers of our county. He did not come here, it is true, until ten years after
Rev. Liitje had begun his work here, but he came, nevertheless, when the or-
ganization of Lutheran congregations all over- the county were in progress and
forming. He moreover, by his energy, organized most of the older churches
now existing in the county. He organized the first German congregation in
Greensburg, and preached to them for many years in the German language.
In 1809 he organized the Manor church, and a few years later organized St.
James and Hankey's congregations in the northern part of the county. Still
later came St. John's, Swope's, Ridge, Youngstown, and other congregations
near Greensburg. For many long and weary years he served all these people,
and rode on horseback from one preaching place to another. He was assisted
somewhat in his later years by young men and by his son, Rev. Michael J.
Steck, but the bulk of this work for at least thirty years fell on him. Rev.
Jonas Rlechling assisted him somewhat, and in 1820 was added to the pas-
toral force of the large fields. Rev. Mechling had charge of St. James' and
Hankey's churches, in the northern part of the county, and of the West New-
ton and Barren Run churches, and also of the Donegal Church and the Dutch
meeting house in Ligonier Valley. All the rest of the county was ministered
to almost entirely and alone by Rev. Steck as long as he lived. Many of the
above charges were small ones. The main ones in the county were the First
German Church at Greensburg, Harrold's, Brush Creek and Manor. Their early
existence and the influence they exerted over other churches in the county dur-
ing this formative period gives them special interest to the student of our early
church history.

As we have said, the German Lutheran Church of Greensburg was estab-
lished by Rev. Steck shortly after he arrived here. There is a record of bap-
tisms performed by him in 1792, but there is no record of any communion being
held for several years after, nor can the date of its general organization be
fixed. It is most likely that it grew and waxed strong without special organi-
zation. A log church was built by them late in the century, perhaps about

3o6

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

1796, and the tradition is that it was built after the style of the Harrold church.
It stood until 181 5, when the second church was built, which was completed in
1819. For more than fifty years services were conducted in the German
language. In 1848 this question of language brought about a division of the
church, and Zion's Church was formed, wherein the English language was
used entirely in all services.

Brush Creek Church had a log house, too, no doubt very like the others,
and it lasted them till 1820, when a second structure of brick was built. The
Manor congregation, founded in 1809, built at first a rude log house, and a
second church in 1815. These were four of the leading Lutheran churches,

BRUSH CREEK CHURCH.

and were ministered to by three preachers for a period of seventy-seven years.
These ministers, as will be remembered from the above, were Rev. John 'M.
Steck, the founder ; Rev. Michael J. Steck, his son ; and Rev. Jonas IMechling.
The elder Steck, commonly called Father Steck, because of his age, preached
here from 1791 till 1830; his son, Rev. Michael J. Steck, from 1828 till 1848,
and Rev. Jonas Mechling from 1848 till the time of his death, in 1868. The
Greensburg charge, under Rev. John M. Steck. had charge of all the churches
in the county. He was bishop of the county of Westmoreland. During his
son's pastorate, St. James', Hankey's, Seanor's and other small points were

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 307

connected with this charge, and during the pastorate of Rev. Jonas JMechling
his charges were reduced to the four above named, viz. : Greensburg, Harrold,
Brush Creek and Manor. Since his death these charges, have been still further
divided, so that each church now supports a pastor of its own. In 1841 Rev.
Jacob Zimmerman took charge of the Lutheran congregation in the northern
part of the county.

Alichael J. Stack was a son of John M. Steck, and was born in Greensburg
in 1793. He was one of the founders of the Pittsburgh Synod, was its first
president and was elected consecutively for five years. For many years he was
regarded as the ablest preacher of the Lutheran faith in the county. He was
more liberally educated than his father had been. In his youth he studied
theology with his father, and with Rev. Scharle, of Pittsburgh. He was li-
censed to preach in June, 1816, but had already done considerable ministerial
work by way of assisting his fathe'r. The same year he accepted a call in Lan-
caster, Ohio, then in the backwoods of the church development. He was very
successful in his work there for twelve years. \\'hen his father grew too old
to attend without assistance to his duties as pastor in Westmoreland work, he
returned to Greensburg to assist him. This was in 1828, and two years after-
ward, when his father died, the son succeeded him in the Westmoreland work.
Here the son labored with great energ>- and success till his death, in 1848.
During the greater part of his ministry in this county he preached regularly to
eleven congregations. He often preached four times in a day, and rode many
miles on horseback in order to do so. He preached about eight thousand ser-
mons in his thirty-two years of ministry, and baptized about five thousand
children. He received into the church about two thousand people by confirma-
tion. Like his father, he was a man of high character and standing in the
community, and many regarded him as the ablest man in the church in western
Pennsylvania. He, like Dr. Hacke, saw that the German language was on the
wane, and that it was of vast importance to introduce the English language in
all church services, so that the young people might grow up with a knowledge
of the language they would be expected to use mostly throughout their lives.
. He therefore advocated the formation of an English Lutheran congregation in
Greensburg, and its establishment was largely due to him. He was a man of
fine appearance, and had a splendid voice and a clear enunciation. He was an
abler man than his father, and had received a more liberal education in his
youth. Had his ministry been prolonged for a half a century he would un-
doubtedly have attained a much higher degree of eminence in the church than
that of his father. He died in Greensburg, in September, 1848, aged fifty-fiva
years.

Jonas JMechling was born in Hempfield township, near Greensburg, August
14, 1798. He studied theology under Rev. Schnee, of Pittsburgh, and later under
the elder Rev. Steck, in Greensburg. He began the regular ministry in 1820
as assistant to Rev. Steck. His work at first lay all over Westmoreland county,
particularly in the northern part and in Ligonier \'alley. In 1827 he was given

3o8 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

charge of Ridge and Youngstown congiegations, where he preached till 1848,
when, on the death of Rev. M. J. Steck, he came to Greensburg. Unlike the
Stacks, his whole life's work was here in Westmoreland county. The last
twenty years of his life he devoted to the German congregation and to the
English congregation in Greensburg' and to Harrold's, Brush Creek, and Manor
congregations. He was a man of simple manners, amiable disposition, and of
high social culture. He preached here forty-eight years, and in that time de-
livered six thousand three hundred and twenty-seven sermons, not including
funeral sermons.- He baptized six thousand two hundred and eighty-six
people, confirmed two thousand and thirty-nine as members o.f the church, and '
performed nine hundred and ninety marriages.

In a pamphlet written by the venerable Judge Thomas jNIellon, in 1880, on
the Sunday question, are found some interesting observations on the early con-
dition of religion in Franklin township, where he was brought up. The period
of which he writes is between 1825 and 1830. He says :

"Rev. Father Wynal, of the Lutheran persuasion, was nursing an embryo con-
gregation among the Germans. He resided near Saltsburg, but came over and
preached to them every fourth Sunday, holding services in the dwelling of our
nearest neighbor, Peter Hill. The congregation has since developed into that now
v.orshiping in a comfortable brick edifice known as Hill's Church. Well, at the
time to which I refer, when Mr. Wynal was the pastor, old Peter Hill, as honest a
man and good a neighbor as need be, was the contributor, treasurer, trustee and
entire session. The Sunday on which preaching was to be at Peter's was regarded
us a holiday, indeed, by the surrounding German population. They gathered from
all quarters. The services lasted from nine till twelve a. m., when Peter's wife
Hetty, (for he was married twice and had in all twenty-five children), with the as-
sistance of her neighbor women, would have an ample dinner cooked, which was
not only free but welcome to all who had come to meeting. The dinner being
over, the younger men would spend the afternoon in games of corner ball and
pitching quoits on the green in front of the house, whilst Mr. Wynal and Peter and
the old men sat smoking their pipes on the porch, looking on at the sport with
marked satisfaction. Evidently it occurred to neither pastor nor people that there
was anything wrong or sinful in the performance. Times change, however, and
religious observances, as well as other habits, change according to the prevailing
fashion, for the same congregation would not now spend Sunday in that way.

"At the same time we, of Scotch Presbyterian proclivities, had a similar gath-
ering every third Sunday at Duff's Tent. Duff's Tent was a place in the woods,
wkh benches made of split logs, and an eight-by-ten box-shaped structure, boarded
up and roofed, for a pulpit. For a pastor we had Rev. Hugh Kirkland, a fresh
graduate from the Theological School at Glasgow, and zealous in the strictest
ideas of the Scotch kirk. He regarded the merits of Rouse's Version of David's
Psalms and the enormity of Sabbath breaking as of vital importance. He preached
on few topics except 'To prove the Roman Catholic Church to be the antichrist
and whore of Babylon.' or 'The desecration of the Sabbath by the Lutherans,'
or 'The damnable heresies of the Methodists in defying the doctrines of innate
depravity and predestination and persisting in singing choral songs instead of the
Psalms of David.'

"This kind of preaching, however, did not bring lorth good fruit, even in the

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 309

Scotch Presbyterian soil in which it was sown. My father allowed the Methodists
the use of a vacant house on his place to hold their meetings, and several of the
dock attended a Methodist meeting on one occasion to hear the Rev. Bascom and
some of the leading men. Mr. Humes joined in the singing. This the reverend
gentleman regarded as an indignity to his teaching, and in his next sermon he
took occasion to animadvert severely on the conduct of those who, after being
washed from their sins, had, like the sow, again betaken themselves to wallowing
in the mire. He was as pointed as to nearly designate the delinquents by name,
and this raised a row. But the straw that broke the camel's back was the starting
of a Sabbath-school. George and Michael Haymaher and some other young people
of this flock undertook to open a Sabbath-school in the schoolhouse at Newlans-
burg, nearby. This was too great a sacrilege for the good man to bear. He could
not brook the desecration of the Sabbath-day by such worldly employment as
school teaching, and. as a majority of his flock inclined to favor the Sabbath-
school, he shook the dust from his feet and departed."

THE MENNONITES.

In writing the history of the A'lennonites at Scottdale, it is necessary to
make a division of two periods : the first period dating from the time of the
first settlement to 1893, the year of the organization of the Mennonite Church
of Scottdale ; the second period from that time on to the present.

Among the first Mennonite people in this section were the Staufifers and
Sherricks, who came here from Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, in 1790. The
Louckses and Frettses followed in 1800. from Bucks county. Other families
who came with these and later on are the Tinsmans, Overholts, Stoners, Funks,
Rists, Rosenbergers, Strohms. Dillingers, Foxes, Shellenbergers, Basslers,
Stricklers, Ruths, Myers, Durstines, Lanes, Shupes, Mumaw^ Shellys, Bares,
Landises, and Bachtels.

Of the early congregational worship of these settlers, little is known.
During the first few years they evidently held their services in the homes.
Just when the congregation was organized cannot be learned. The first meet-
ing house, a log structure, was built near Pennsville, Fayette county, about the
year 1800. A few years later a log meeting house was built near Stonerville
(now Alverton), Westinareland county. The Stonerville church was replaced
by a brick building in 1841. and also the Pennsville church in 1852. Neither
of these buildings are now standing. Though there were two places of worship,
the church existed as a single congregation, services being held every two
weeks at each place. The first ministers of this congregation were Abram
Stauffer, Joseph Sherrick, and David Funk. Abram Stauffer was born Sep-
tember 3, 1752. and died September 3, 1826. He caine here from Lancaster
county in 1790. He was great-great-grandfather of Aaron Lo.ucks, now bishop
in this district.

Joseph Sherrick was born in Switzerland, December 25, 1757. He was the
eldest of five sons, who came to America with their father (a widower) in
1765. He first located in Lancaster county, and in 1790 moved to Westmore-
land countv. His death occurred December 21, 181 1. David Funk was born

3IO

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

November lo, 1765, and died October 4, 1833. He was the first bishop of this
congregation. Other ministers were: Conrad Rist, born September 10, 1787,
died June 22, 1841. Christian Sherrick (a son of Joseph Sherrick) ; born Janu-
ary 19, 1789, died jNIarch 12, 1845. John D. Overholt, born April 19, 1787,
died August 29, 1878; ordained minister in 1830; ordained bishop 1833. Mar-
tin Loucks, born December 9, 1798, died November 7, 1869; ordained minister
in 1833. Henry Moyer. John Snyder. Henry Yothers, born January 10, 18 10,
died April 18, 1900; ordained minister September, 1845; ordained bishop Oc-
tober, 1857. In October, 1864, he moved with his family to Livingston county,
Illinois, and later to Blue Springs, Nebraska, where he died at the advanced
age of ninety years. Up to his death he retained an active mind. He was
especially gifted with ability to recall exact dates and incidents. He was very
able as a quoter of Scripture. Jonas Blough moved here from Somerset county.
In 1879 he moved to the Johnstown district, and was the last resident minister
of this period.

From 1879 to 1892 the appointments were filled by ministers from other
places. Among those from a distance were C. B. Brennaman and C. C. Beery
from Oliio ; J. S. CofTman from Virginia, afterwards from Indiana ; Daniel
Roth, from Washington county, Maryland. Afterwards, according to a request
made to conference, Herman Snyder of Blair county, Pennsylvania, and J. N.
Durr, of Masontown, Fayette county, Pennsylvania, were appointed to look
after the work and see that appointments were filled every four weeks. Fol-
lowing are some of the ministers who assisted in filling appointments during
that time : Henry Blauch, David Keim, Levi A. Blough, D. H. Bender, Chris-
tian Defifenbaugh, David Johnson, G. D. Miller, and others.

During this first period the congregation grew from a few members to a
body of at least two hundred. As many as thirty persons were baptized and
received into the church at one time. The growth continued until 1840, when,
it reached its climax. From that time on there were fewer members added
and some of those who were members left the church and united with other
denominations, some moved into other localities, and others were removed by
death ; so that in 1892 there were but sixteen members left, and with but few
. exceptions these were all old people. Among the apparent causes for the fall-
ing off and decay of this congregation was the preaching in German to a
people whose education was English, and who understood and spoke the Eng-
lish language. Another cause was the neglect of special effort to reach and
hold the young people, such as Sunday school, evening meeting, etc.

On September 18, 1892, the step was taken that led to the reviving of the
work at this place. At this time Aaron Loucks was chosen and ordained min-
ister by the unanimous voice of the congregation. January 10, 1891, he was
ordained bishop.

As most of the members of the church at this time lived in and about Scott-
dale, it became necessary for the best interests of the congregation that the

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 311

church be located in the town. At a meeting of the members held July 22,
1893, at the home of Jacob S. Loucks, it was unanimously decided to erect a
meeting house in Scottdale. The work of excavating was begun early in Au-
gust, and a brick building, thirty-four feet by fifty feet, was erected on the
corner of Market and Grove streets. It was dedicated December 3, 1903.
J. S. Coffman, of Elkhart, Indiana, conducted the opening services and con-
tinued the meetings for two weeks. As a result a number of young people
confessed Christ. The Sunday school was organized December 24, and has
been continued ever since. January 4, 1894, the first new members were re-
ceived into the church — three by baptism, and one from another denomination
— making a total membership at that time of twenty. From that date on there
has been a gradual increase in membership. At the present time there are
fifty members enrolled.

The Second Sunday School Conference of the Southwestern Pennsylvania
District was held here the third Thursday in October, 1896. The First Bible
Conference was held here from December 28, 1896, to January 9, 1897.

In April, 1895. Jacob A. Kessler and family, of Lancaster county, located
with this congregation. July 28, 1895, he was ordained a minister. Bishop
Isaac Eby, of Lancaster county, officiating. He assisted in the work of the min-
istry until November 4, 1898, when at a meeting held in Elkhart, following the
General Conference held near Wakarusa, Indiana, he was chosen a missionary
to India. He with W. B. Page and sister, of Elkhart, Indiana, sailed February
22. 1899. He was ordained bishop January, 1899. at Tub, Somerset county, J.
N. Durr officiating. After J. A. Ressler left for India, Aaron Loucks con-
tinued to serve the church as pastor until 1901 when he moved to Riverside,
California. He returned to Scottdale a year later. On March 10, 1901. A. D.
Martin, who was formerly of Franklin county, Pennsylvania, was ordained to
the ministry. He was born October 17, 1878, and united with the church at
the age of fourteen.

THE CATHOLIC CHURCH.

The earliest Catholics in Westmoreland were in Unity township. In 1787
five men with their families came from Berks county and settled a short dis-
tance east of Youngstown. Their names were John Propst, John Jung, Pat-
rick Archibald, Simon Christian and George Ruiifner. They came directly
across the state, coming up the Juniata and crossing the Allegheny mountains,
and thence to Unity township. They purchased rich lands, and two years later
they were joined by Henry Kuhn, also from Berks county. They were not
close neighbors in the new country, but were more or less associated together,
for in 1789 they unitedly attempted to purchase a lot in Greensburg upon
which to build a church and lay out a graveyard. They were very poor, hav-
ing but a few shillings in cash. A lot was presented to them, perhaps with a
view of encouraging the growth of Greensburg.

Before leaving their eastern homes they had arranged with Rev. John Bpt.

312

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

Cause)', of Conewago, to visit them after they were located in their new homes.
This he did in June, 1789. They had no church then, and the humble log cabin
of John Propst, near Youngstown, was used as an edifice in which the visiting
priest celebrated the faith of the church. This was perhaps the first promul-
gation of the Catholic religion in Pennsylvania west of the Allegheny moun-
tains, except that of the French Catholics in Fort Duquesne, prior to its cap-
ture by General Forbes, in 1758. Other duties were pressing on Father Causey,
and he remained here only a short time, and, we believe, never returned. They
were also visited by Rev. Peter Hielborn, who in 1789 became pastor of St.
IMary's parish, in Philadelphia. \Miile here he founded the first permanent
settlement of the followers of his faith on a tract of land called "Sportsman's
Hall." The seed he planted took deep root, for his labors were on the spot now
occupied by St. Vincent's Abbey. Soon after him came a priest named Theo-
dore Browers, whose permanent location there was a great inducement for
Catholic families to settle in that vicinity. Father Browers came from Hol-
land, and reached Philadelphia in 1789. He brought with him a considerable
sum of money to dispose of in the interests of his church. Great efforts were
made by the Philadelphia societies to have him apply it there, for they had
heavy debts, and, like all churches, had great need of both his services and his
money. This he refused to do, for he had determined to settle with some poor
people who had neither money nor priest. In some way he heard of the des-
titute circumstances of these people in Unity township, and accordingly came
here. He purchased one hundred and sixty-two acres of land in Derry town-
ship, on the banks of the Loyalhartna. He came to Greensburg and boarded for
some time with Christian RuiTner, who lived three miles to the east. It was
his intention to build on his own land, a residence and a church for the poor
of his faith, but he learned on investigation that the land was very poor and
uninviting, and moreover, situated a long distance away from a Catholic set-
tlement. So he purchased the tract known as "Sportsman's Hall," three hun-
dred and thirteen acres, and had it conveyed to him April 16, 1790. With a
carpenter he soon put up a building seventeen by seventeen feet, and one and a
half stories high, where he lived and held services. Later an addition was
built to his house, and it was used as a chapel. It had no seats, save some
humble benches for the older people. Father Browers died, perhaps from over-
work, on October 29, 1790. By will he bequeathed both his tracts of land to
his successor, who should be a duly authorized pastor of the settlement. His
will was not written by one of sufficient knowledge to draw it properly, and its
construction gave rise to much litigation which lasted many years. The leg-
islature, by act of March 7, 1827, legalized the will and gave the property to
the congregation of St. Vincent's Church. In spite of this litigation the Unity
township colony of Catholics increased very rapidly, so that Rev. Peter Heil-
burn was made pastor in 1799, and in November of that year had seventy-five
communicants. Though the Catholic settlement at Unity increased very rap-
idl}-, the litigation mto which the society was plunged because of Father Brow-

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

313

ers' poorly written will, injured it a great deal. In 1797 Rev. F. Lannigan
headed a considerable number of his people who left the Unity colony and lo-
cated at West Alexander, in Washington county, and afterwards removed to
Waynesburg, all because of the contentions in the Unity colony.

For a number ot years after the death of Father Browers the Catholics of
Unity were without a pastor. Fathers Brosius and Pellentz came occasionally
from missions in the east and ministered to them. For a time Rev. Whalen
came and lived among them, living in great destitution and poverty in order to
minister to them. In the meantime a colony of Roman Catholics was estab-
lished on the Allegheny mountains by Demetrius Augustine Gallitzin, a Rus-
sian Prince, and he took charge of the Unity colony also.

"Sportsman's Hall" has long since been abandoned as a name of the col-
ony. It is now and has for many years been known as St. Vincent's. It is,

SPORTSMAN'S HALL.

we believe, the parent of all Catholic churches in Westmoreland county. It
adopted its present name from the patron saint of a church erected by Rev.
A. Stillinger, its pastor, in 1833. The dimensions of this church were fifty-one
and one-half by eighty-seven feet. It was finished in 1835, ^"^ on July 19th
was blessed by Bishop Kendrick. Father Stillinger remained pastor till 1845,
when the work became too heavy for one of his age, and he was transferred to
Blairsville. He was succeeded at St. Vincent's by Rev. F. Gallagher, who a
year later was succeeded by Rev. D. Boniface Wimmer. He labored with great
energy and success at St. Vincent's.

The Benedictine Order was founded by St. Benedict, an Italian, born in
480. Much of the civilization and christianization of Europe, and particularly
England, is due to this order. Doubtless without the work performed by this
order manv of the treasures of science and literature of Greece and Rome, and

u

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

even the Bible itself, would have been lost. This seems to be admitted by most
historians, and should dispel a mistaken idea so prevalent among many that
the ancient monks were ignorant and superstitious. Many Benedictine mon-
asteries were established centuries ago in the wilds of western Europe. Around
these people of all religious beliefs settled and formed civic communities which
are now flournishing as cities and towns. Thus the spread of Benedictine
mo.nasticism became extremely potent in the civilization of Europe. In the
dark ages a flood of heathenism poured in on Europe from Asia, and these
monasteries were the rallying points of Christianity, the refuge of modern civ-
ilization, piety and learning.

The founder of the Benedictine order in the United States was Rt. Rev.
Abbot Boniface Wimmer, O. S. B.,and the order was founded in Westmoreland
county. He was born near Ratisbon, in Bavaria, January 14, 1809. Display-
ing talents of a high order in his youth, his
parents sent him to school in Ratisbon,
where he received a classical education.
From there he went to the University of
Munich, in 1827, and began to study law.
A year later he changed his mind, aban-
doned the law for theology, and was or-
dained a priest August 31, 183 1. A year
later he entered the Benedictine monastery
at Metten, in Bavaria, where he wore the
robes of his order and received the church
name of Boniface. For some fourteen
years he was employed as priest in various
parts of Bavaria, and was a professor at
St. Stephens' in Augsburg, and also in
Munich.

In the meantime the population of the
United States had increased to about
twenty millions, and the Roman Cath-
olics had increased correspondingly. The RT. rev. boniface wimmer. o. s. b.
German element of this faith were calling loudly for priests and churches of
their own nationality. This became known to Rev. Boniface Wimmer, and
he therefore resolved to establish a Benedictine Abbey in America, in order that
young men might be educated for the priesthood. As a general proposition
his plan was opposed in Germany, but he nevertheless had many friends who
tendered him material aid in the great enterprise, among whom was King
Louis I, of Bavaria. Others followed this royal example, and very soon some
nineteen young men were ready to turn their backs to their native land and
sail with Father Wimmer to assist in his great undertaking in the New
World. They accordingly left Munich for America, July 25, 1846. They em-
barked at Rotterdam on the steamer "Iowa," and landed in New York on

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 315

September 16, 1846. They rested a few days in the city, and were met by Rev.
Henry Lemke, a priest of Cambria county, who had heard of the project and
had gone to. New York to welcome them, and to suggest Western Pennsyl-
vania as a proper place to found the abbey. He also offered his property and
colo.ny at a moderate sum should they locate there. Rev. Wimmer was cau-
tious, and consulted Bishop O'Connor, of Pittsburgh, and on his advice lo-
cated the abbey at St. Vincent, in Unity township, abovit forty miles east of
Pittsburgh. When he arrived there in October, 1846, he found the brick
church we have referred to, a small pastor's residence, a small schoolhouse and
an old log barn, or stable. On October i8th they took possession of the prop-
erty. On October 24th they laid the foundation of the future monastery by con-
ferring the right to wear the Benedictine gown on his nineteen associates. Un-
fortunately there were only six habits to be found, but the difficulty was in a
measure overcome by transferring their gowns from one to another. The
same scarcity was found as to dishes, but this was overcome by only five or six
eating at a time. Notwithstanding these hindrances, their zeal for the cause
in which they had enlisted was such that no one of them ever regretted the
steps he had taken.

Their first duty was to sow wheat on the few cleared fields, so that they
might have bread for the coming year. Rev. Wimmer set them all an example
in this direction. Though bred to other work, he felled many a tree in the
work of clearing land. He had, with his associates, cast his lot in a new
country, and shrank from no hardships whatever. This example was neces-
sary, too, for in the summer of 1847 their means were all exhausted, and star-
vation almost stared them in the face. Some wanted to abandon the project,
but at the darkest hour a letter reached them from Munich, stating that Rev.
Peter Lechner, O. S. B., would soon arrive with a purse of coin equal to about
two thousand dollars in gold, as a present from the Louis Mission Union of
Bavaria, and a promise of eight hundred dollars per year from the same source
if they would remain and make a success of the project. All their sorrow was
turned into joy when Lechner and the twenty aspirants for the Benedictine or-
der arrived on August 17, 1847.

Many difficulties arose. One was the scarcity of priests. Father Wini-
mer's time should have been given to the founding of the order exclusively,
yet there were Catholic societies in Saltsburg, Greensburg and Indiana, none
of whom were supplied with priests. In addition to his monastic duties he was
compelled to look after and minister to these societies. It was too much for
him, and he therefore raised to the priesthood, on March 18, 1847, a young
man who had finished his religious studies in Germany, named Martin Geyer-
stanger, who took the name of Charles in religion. This was the first ordina-
tion of a Benedictine in America.

Father Charles was born in Austria, November 20, 1820. He was a man
of medium height, broad shoulders, and strong constitution. He was of san-
guine temperament, well suited to cheer up the despondent feelings of a new

3i6 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUXTY.

country. Equally affable and pious, he won many friends, and was respected
by all who knew him. In addition to his extensive knowledge of theology and
histon.-, he is said to have possessed a keen sense of humor which always stood
him in good stead. At his death April 22, 1881, in the community in which he
had labored during his entire religious life, he had few, if any, equals in his
knowledge of sacred liturgy and literature. Rev. Lechner's arrival with twen-
ty new aspirants to the Order and the contribution in money, though encour-
aging generally, incommoded in a great degree the young family at the mon-
astery, for the buildings were scarcely large enough to accommodate the twenty
who were already there. A new building was begun shortly after. It was
forty by one hundred feet, and the foundation stones were laid on September
28, 1848. The winter set in early that year, and it was but little service to them
until the spring of 1849. It was under a hurriedly made board roo.f late in the
fall of 1848, and was occupied that winter by a few aspirants because of neces-
sity. Often when they woke in the morning their beds were covered with
snow or drenched with rain and sleet. Nevertheless they did good work in the
way of educating young men for the priesthood, but the demand was much
greater than the supply. News of their hard work and privations in America
reached Rome, and Pope Pius IX, to encourage them, raised the rank of the
Benedictine Colony to that of a monastery, and the requisite number of priests
to supply the pioneer Catholic societies in Westmoreland were at hand. In
1853 the legislature of Pennsylvania incorporated the monks at St. A'incent
with the title, "The Benedictine Society of Westmoreland County." A new
field for their energies was found in the demand for nuns to minister to the
wants of the people and to act as teachers of parochial schools. A" call for
them was sent to Bavaria but only three sisters responded.

In 1854 Father Wimmer journeyed to Rome to thank Pope Pius IX for
past favors, and to ask that the monastery be raised to the dignity of an abbey.
The Pope did more. He made Father ^^'immer an abbot, and gave him power
to found new Benedictine Orders as the offspring of his own, in any diocese in
the United States. Quite a mimber now flourishing in the United States were
thus founded by Abbot Wimmer, and all are the offspring of the Benedictine
Society of Westmoreland county. One was founded in Minnesota in 1856,
which he named St. Louis, in honor of his benefactor, Louis I, King of Ba-
varia. When the news of it reached His Royal Highness he sent the abbot the
following letter, which is preserved in the archives of St. Vincent.

Lord Abbot P. Boniface Wimmer. Aug. 29, 1867.

For (he good wishes tendered me on the anniversary of my birthday, and that
of the Saint whose name I bear, contained in your letter dated the loth, I kindly
thank you. I know well how to appreciate the grateful sentiments of the Bene-
dictines in America. It pleased me very much to hear that the new Abbey in
Minnesota bears my name. I wish the best prosperity to it. to you and to the
whole Benedictine order in America.

With profound esteem, and devoted to you as ever.

Yours most sincerely LOUIS I.

H-ISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

2,^7

Uii business relative to the success of the Abbe}-, he visited Rome in 1865
and again in 1869. In 1880 he made a fourth trip there, that time to attend a
celebration which he himself originally suggested, viz. : The fourteen hundredth
anniversary o'^ the founding of the Benedictine Order. First established as it
was in 480, the anniversary was held at ;\Ionte Carlo, in Italy, in 1880. He
died December 8, 1887.

The present number of students is 423. Although their buildings cover
several acres of ground, they have been compelled each year for some years to
refuse the admission of several hundred students. Very extensive additions
to the buildings are now in process of construction. So hampered are they for
room that many departments, including natural history, have been suppressed.
For this reason rare and costly apparatus has been stored away and is not

NTERIOR OF MON.'\STERY CHURCH.

now in use, in order that the room originally assigned to such departments
might be made available for the accommodation of students. In celebrated
paintings, sculpturing and other almost priceless works of art, the institution is
indeed replete. A large proportion of the work of the institution is performed
by their own people. They operate, for instance, their own publishing house,
printing office, bindery, machine and furniture shops, etc. In all there are over
seven hundred persons housed within buildings of the institution. This in-
cludes the faculty, students, and those who are otherwise employed.

In 1890, they began the erection of one of the most magnificent church edi-
fices in the United States. The exterior of this building is of brick and stone,
and may be equalled or surpassed by other structures, but the interior has no
equal on the American continent. It is difficult, even impossible, to estimate

3i8 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY

its cost, because a great part of the work on it has been performed by those
who belonged to the institution, and no account of their time was kept, though
these include many, skilled artisans. Its main altar, made of onyx and set with
precious stones, alone cost $18,000, and its immense pipe organ cost many
thousands more. The fine art carving, mostly done in Italy, lends an artistic
beauty and richness to the interior that no pen can truly describe. It was
dedicated in August, 1905.

ST. XAVIER'S CONVENT,

In 1845 Henry Kuhn, an old gentleman from Westmoreland county, offered
the Sisters a farm on liberal terms, upon which he wanted them to establish an
academy for young women. With the encouragement and assistance of Abbot
Wimmer they accepted the farm under the conditions of Mr. Kuhn. This farm
was beautifully located, forty miles east of Pittsburgh, on the Pittsburgh and
Philadelphia turnpike. The Pennsylvania railroad was not then projected, and
the location on the pike made it a most desirable one. There were no buildings
worthy of mention on the farm. The pastor of St. Vincent's church, which
was but a mile distant, gave up his residence to accommodate the Sisters and
their first pupils. As soon as possible they began the erection of a three-story
brick structure which could later on be used as a wing of a more imposing
edifice. In the foreground, as viewed from the building, lies the fertile valley
of the Loyalhanna, while in the distance is the blue outline of the Chestnut
Ridge clad in forests to its crest. The new building was almost finished in
1846. Trees were planted and the grounds were most beautifully laid out.
On May 14, 1487, the Sisters and their pupils took possession of the new build-
ing, with ceremonies appropriate to the occasion. They had in the meantime
been incorporated under the title, "The Sisters of Mercy," and now worked with
renewed energy to build up the school.

The trees planted afforded little shade, and for some years the grounds
looked desolate enough. But near by was another farm which had on it a most
enchanting grove of tall oak trees. Fortunately for the struggling institution,
this farm was not for sale till 1852. By that time the Sisters, with some out-
side assistance, saw their way clear to purchase it on extended payments which
were promptly met when due. This, with the growing trees planted, made it,
as it has been frequently termed by visitors, a veritable "little Paradise." In
the same year the Pennsylvania railroad was completed, passing within two
miles of it. These advantages so increased its popularity that in 1861 a chape)
costing $40,000 was contracted for. Then came the Rebellion, and the build-
ing progressed so slowly that it was not completed till 1866. In the meantime
a "Guest House" was built on the grounds to accommodate the pupils' friends
when visiting them.

But now comes a dark page in its histo^\^ At about 2 o'clock p. m., on
February ist, 1868, a fire broke out, and in a few hours there was nothing left

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

319

of all these vast buildings but smouldering ruins. The fire first showed itself
in the middle building, out of which dark volumes of smoke and flame were
pouring. There was no water to oppose it except from a few pumps on the
premises. Neighbors gathered quickly, and saved a great amount of house-
hold furniture. The Guest House alone remained. There was an insurance
of $20,000, but one building alone had cost more than twice that amount. The
friends of the institution came to its aid with liberal donations. Part of the
grounds was sold, and in a few weeks they were ready to begin the construction
of a new building on the site of the former one. It was of Gothic design, with
irregular outline. Its front to the east was 74 feet by 40 feet deep, the left
wing, extending northwest, 174 by 44; the right wing to the south was 100
feet by 50 feet. The chapel was connected with the front building and ran
parallel with the left wing. It was o.f Gothic architecture, 74 by 34 feet. The
work began in April, 1868. In September, 1869, the academy building was
ready to accommodate pupils. The chapel was completed in 1870, and the
new structures have a beauty of architecture and a symmetry about them which
could not have been attained under the original process o.f construction. The
purpose of the academy is to impart a solid English education, together with a
knowledge of the languages and fine arts, and to fit the students for useful
places in social life.

St. Xavier's, the Abbey and the College buildings are all erected on a gentle
elevation. The fertile valleys of the Loyalhanna lie before them, while in the
distance is the Chestnut Ridge, thickly covered with its primeval forests. Near
the buildings are spacious lawns, beds of flowers, blooming shrubbery, vines,
ferns, and hundreds of ornamental trees.

CHAPTKR XXIII

The Early Bench and Bar, 1773-1790.

The leading features in the hves of some of the judges and more eminent
lawyers from 1773 to 1850 have been partially preserved by the reminiscences
of ]\Ir. James Johnston, late of "Kingston House," and by the writings of Mr.
George Dallas Albert, late of Latrobe, Pennsylvania. To these authorities and
to newspaper files generally the writer has had access, and has drawn material
from them freely, which he has treated as authentic.

Westmoreland county was erected during the proprietary government of
the Penns and under the reign of the English law, though the latter was some-
what modified by the constitution o.f 1776. The act of May 22, 1722, authorized
the appointment of a "competent number of justices of the peace" for each
county, and any three of them had power to hold the ordinary quarter sessions
court and common pleas court. The act of September 9, 1759, provided that
"five persons of the best discretion, capacity, judgment and integrity" should
be commissioned for the common pleas and orphans' court, any three of whom
were empowered to act. All were appointed for life on good behavior. B\
the constitution of 1776 the term was limited to seven years, but the constitu-
tion of 1790 restored the former tenure. The act of 1722 also provided for the
appointment of a supreme court of three judges (afterwards increased to four),
before whom the proceedings of the county court could be reviewed. This
supreme court had further jurisdiction over all capital cases, and for this pur-
pose they were compelled to sit in each county twice a year. Treason, murder,
manslaughter, robbery, horse stealing, arson, burglary, witchcraft, etc., were
all punishable by death.

On February 27, the day following the passage of the act creating West-
moreland county, William Crawford, among others, was appointed a justice of
the new county. The place of holding court was fixed at Hannastown and on
April 6, 1773, the first court of the county was convened with Judge William
Crawford on the bench. The first business transacted was to divide the county
into townships. Then a grand jury was called, with John Carnahan as fore-
man. This court was held in the log house of Robert Hanna, as were practi-
callv all of the courts of the countv for the next thirteen vears.

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 321

The judges who sat on the bench during- this period of Westmoreland's his-
tory were not learned in the law. The)- were men of high standing in the com-
munity, but were generally little more than justices of the peace. This was the
case all over the province at that time, and yet a writer of no less distinction
than Henry Cabot Lodge, in his "History of the English Colonies in America,"
page 232, speaks of the judicial system of Pennsylvania as "far above the co-
lonial standard both as to the bench and the bar."

All of the judges and justices of the province were appointed by the presi-
dent of the supreme executive council under the act of May 22, 1722, with the
above modifications. Their powers were very similar to those of the present
common pleas and orphans' court judges. They were not only the highest
judicial officers of the county, but were men of distinction in social life. Their
houses, it is true, were the ordinary log houses, with perhaps a few supplemen-
tary articles of furniture, but there was undoubtedly a higher standard of so-
ciability and a finer polish among them than among the pioneers generally.
There was a vestige of the old world manners about them.

The distinction between the title "justice" and "judge" seems to have been
that when they sat on the bench of the county court they were called "judges,"
and otherwise they were known as "justices." All were commissioned as
justices.

\'ery early in the Pennsylvania province it became the custom to distinguish
one of the justices as president judge, and this honor fell first to William Craw-
ford when he was present, but the records sometimes show instances in which
Lochry, Gist, Hanna, Foreman, Jack and Moore were named as president or
"precedent" judges. When they met to hold court, if the regular president
was not present, they selected one of their number to preside in his absence, but
he did not hold the office of president by legislative authority prior to the act of
January 28, 1777. This act has the following:

"The president and council shall appoint one of the justices in each county
10 preside in the respective courts, and in his absence the justices who shall attend
tlie court shall choose one of themselves president for the time being.'"

Crawford was a man who, even in his younger years, stood very high
among the pioneers of both Pennsylvania and Virginia. He came west on the
Braddock road shortly after the memorable defeat and took up land in 1767
near Connellsville, where be resided. He is described as a gentleman of the
old school. He was pefsoinally visited by Washington before the latter was
appointed commander of the American armies (1775). He served under
Washington in the Braddock campaign, and is mentioned in many places in
\\'ashington's letters. He was born in \'irginia in 1733. In order to fully
understand his surroundings and his retirement from the Westmoreland bench
the reader should acquaint himself with the causes of "Dunmo.re's War,"
which perplexed our courts a great deal during this period. It arose from a

322

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY

dispute as to the boundary line between \'irginia and Pennsylvania, and has
been treated of at length in this volume.

In this matter Judge Crawford sided with Lord Dunmore and took the
oath of allegiance to Virginia in 1775. He was at once removed from office
by the president of the supreme executive council, and the order removing him
recognized him as the presiding justice. But his memory has not suffered in
history because of his leaning towards Virginia. When the war of the Revolu-
tion came he raised a regiment in western Virginia and Westmoreland county,
was made its colonel, and with it did great service in the Continental army.
Toward the close of the war he was sent to guard the frontier against Indian
incursions. To this end he built Fort Crawford, on the Allegheny river, near
the present town of Arnold. In 1782 he was appointed to command an expedi-
tion against the Indians on the Sandusky. It is known as Crawford's expedi-
tion, and is the basis of one of the most heart-rending chapters of border his-
tory. His army was outnumbered, and he himself was captured by the In-
dians under the leadership of the notorious Simon Girty. After much torture
he was tied hand and foot, and, amid fiendish yells of joy, the Indians, thinking
they were avenging the red men who had fallen before his command, put the
bold and intrepid frontiersman to a most cruel death by burning him at the
stake. Thus died the first of Westmoreland's provincial judges. He will ever
be remembered as an honest and upright judge, a true patriot, and a brave
soldier.

Judge Crawford, being retired from the bench prior to the passage
of the act (1777) authorizing the appointment of a president judge, therefore
the judicial distinction by legislative authority came first in reality to John
Moore. At the commencement of the colonial rebellion he was engaged in
clearing out and cultivating a farm, of four hundred and fifty acres, on the
Crabtree Run, a branch of the Loyalhanna, two miles southeast of New Alex-
andria. A comfortable stone dwelling, still in pretty good condition, marked
the place of his residence, and indicated a man in advance of the rude civiliza-
tion of that day. His wife was a daughter of Isaac Parr, of New Jersey.
Thev had one child when the Revolution opened. These, together with several
colored servants, constituted his household. He was at that time about thirty-
seven years of age.

His first appearance in public life was as a delegate from the county of
Westmoreland to the convention which met at Philadelphia, July 15, 1776, to
form a costitution and frame a government for the state of Pennsylvania. A
committee of conference, of eminent citizens of the state, met at Carpenter's
Hail, in Philadelphia, June 15, 1776, to make arrangements for calling a conven-
tion to form a constitution and frame of government upon the separation of the
colonies from England. The people were invoked by the committee of co,n-.
ference "to choose such persons only to act for them in the ensuing convention
as are distinguished for wisdom, integrity, and a firm attachment to the liberties
of this province." In pursuance of this recommendation, delegates were chosen

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUM'Y.

323

July 5, 1776, and the eight delegates to the convention elected for ^^'estmoreland
county were John Moore, Edward Cook, James Perry, James Barr, James
Smith, John Carmichael, John McClellan, and Christopher Lobingier. In the
convention John Moore was placed on the committee to draw up a declaration
or bill of rights, and also on the committee to report a plan or constitution of
government. The convention selected "a Council of Safety to exercise the whole
of the executive powers of government, so far as relates to the military defense
and safety of the province," which consisted of David Rittenhouse, John Moore,
Owen Eiddle. James Cannon, Joseph Blewor, Frederick Kuhl. Col. John Bull,
Timothy Matlack, Samuel ]\Iorris, B. Bartholomew, Thomas Wharton, Henry

Kepples, John Weitzel, John Hubly, Henry Wyncoop, George Gray, John Bay-
ard, Francis Gurney, Joseph Donaldson, and William Lyon.

September 30th John Moore returned to Westmoreland. During the time
he was in session with the Council of Safety he procured for the defense of
Westmoreland county about four hundred pounds sterling, half a ton of rifle
powder, one ton of lead, and four thousand flints. In 1777 he was commis-
sioned a justice of the peace, and about the same time was appointed surveyor
of public lands in Westmoreland covmty. In 1779 he was commissioned one
of the judges of the several courts of Westmoreland county, and in 1785 ap-
pointed president judge of the same county. No. appointment was made for
AV'estmoreland county until October 24th of that year ( Col. Rec. vol. xiv, p.

324

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

516). His commission bore date on the day following^ and is recorded in tlie
register's office, in Book A, p. 544. He was succeeded in the fall of 1791 by the
Hon. Alexander Addison. After Judge JMoore retired from the bench he was
elected for two terms to the state senate from the senatorial district of Alle-
gheny and Westmoreland.

He was born in Lancaster county. His father, William JMoore, died when
he was but a boy ; and afterwards his mother, Jeannette Aloore, and her son, in
company with her brothers, Charles Wilson, Esq., and John Wilson, removed to
the district of Westmoreland county. What his opportunities for an education
were are not known. He wrote a good hand, and in language and orthography
his composition indicated a man of strong, vigorous, and clear intellect. After
his mother had removed to Westmoreland county, she was again married, to
James Guthrie, of Greensburg, by whom she had several children, one of whom,
James, was afterwards sheriff of Westmoreland county. John B. Guthrie,
once mayor of Pittsburgh, was a descendant.

John Moore had four daughters and two sons. One of his sons was after-
wards county surveyor. The other died in Kentucky, while engaged as princi-
pal civil engineer in the location of a rail-
road His daughters, who were all women
of hue personal appearance and intelligence,
wcic respectively married to JMajor John
Kuk Patrick, a merchant of Greensburg;
lohn j\I. Snowden, editor of the Fanners'
Ri^i\-tcr, in Greensburg, afterwards editor
of the Pittsburgh Mercury, and later m
lite mayor of Pittsburgh, one of the asso-
nati judges of Allegheny county, and at
J ( \K time the nominee of the Democratic
party for congress in the Allegheny dis-
trict ; another was married to the Rev.
Francis Laird, D. D., and the last to James ?\IcJunkin, a prominent farmer.
All these women lived until they were over eighty years old, in the enjoyment
of perfect health and sound constitutions, and were, throughout a long life,
worthy examples of the highest standard of female propriety.

In personal appearance John Moore was a man full six feet high, very
straight and erect ; had large brown eyes, brown hair, and nose rather aquiline.
A gentleman who met him in his own house for the first time in 1798 has left the
following description of his appearance and the impression he made on his
mind at first sight and afterwards : "A tall gentleman, of erect and manly
form, whose intelligent countenance and strikingly expressive eye indicated a
man of more than ordinary ability. He was then about sixty years old, and
the rough buffeting of a frontier life had left a slight shade of sternness over a
countenance at all times dignified. Fie was extremely correct in his habits,-
unbending in his course, stern in his commands, but remarkable for his affec-

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 325

tion to his children ; and although generally mild was notwithstanding pos-
sessed of a great deal of temper, being deeply sensitive, and having a high
sense of honor."

John Moore died in iSii, in the seventy-third year of his age, honored and
respected by all good men who knew him, and his body was buried at Congruity
church. His widow survived him many years. For many years he was an
■elder in the Presbyterian church at Congruity, and was acting in such capacity
Avhen chosen a delegate to the convention which framed the first constitution.
By his will he set free the older of his colored servants, and allowed the younger
ones to serve an apprenticeship with any of his children they might chose.

Judge Robert Hanna, for whom Hannastown was named, was one of the
trustees appointed to locate the public buildings for the new county. The other
trustees were Erwin, Cavett, Sloan and Wilson. Hanna was the most powerful
of these, for he succeeded in locating the county seat and its buildings on his
lands.

Hf was born in the northern part of Ireland, and on reaching western Penn-
sylvania, settled on the Forbes road. He took up lands about midway between
Fort Ligonier and Fort Pitt, and on them erected a log house for a residence.
There being a good deal of travel on the road, his house was soon leased to a
neighbor and converted mto a tavern. Near him he rapidly induced other
■emigrants to settle, and by 1773, when the county was formed, there was quite
a colony of houses around Hanna's. It was, moreover, the chief stopping
place between Pittsburgh and Ligonier. On the formation of the county
Robert Hanna was appointed a justice. The court at Hannastown being held
at his house, he was on the bench very regularly, but nevertheless little is known
•of his work as a judge.

Judge William Jack was born near the town of Strabane. county Tyrone
Ireland, in 1751. But little is known of his life prior to his arrival in America.
Tradition has it, however, that the family was of Huguenot descent, having
been driven from France by the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. In 1772
\Mlliam Jack and his brother ]\Iatthew, aged twenty-one and seventeen re-
spectively, settled near the present town of Greensburg. William married
Margaret, a daughter of Charles \\'ilson, July 7, 1774, and Matthew married
her sister Nancy some years later.

In the preliminary steps taken to form the new county in 1773, in Dun-
more's war and the various Indian wars and in the Revolution, \\'illiam and
Matthew Jack both took active parts. William was commissary officer of Col-
onel Mackey's regiment, a lieutenant of Captain Samuel Moorhead's independ-
ent company, and was commissioned a brigadier-general of militia by Governor
Thomas Mifflin on April 19, 1793. In 1784 he was commissioned by John
Dickinson, president of the supreme executive council, as one of the county
justices, and was therefore ex officio a county judge. Christopher Truby and
John Moore' were on the bench with him, and his commission ran seven vears.

326 HISTORY OP WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

The court minutes show that he was in more constant exercise of his functions,
on the bench at Greensburtv than any other judge. John Moore was designated
president judge, but frequently in Moore's absence William Jack is noted as
presiding. Upon the accession of Judge Addison ( 1791 ) Jack became an asso-
ciate judge. Up to the close of the century he was on the bench at almost every
term of court.

There is in possession of the descendants of General Jack, the children of
r\Irs. Xancy Jack Wentling, late of Greensburg, a very laudatory letter given to
General Jack on the eve of his departure for Europe. The letter indicates that
he was a man of many high and noble qualities and is signed by John Moore,
president judge; Christopher Truby, Michael Rugh, judges, and attested by
Michael Hufi'nagle, prothonotary. The letter is dated November 4, 1788.
General Jack lived many years after this, dying February 18, 1821.

There were other justices who sat on the bench during this provincial per-
iod, but these of whom we have written are, fairly representative men of their
day, and, we believe, will enable the reader to form a correct estimate of the
men who presided over our courts during the years between 1773 and 1790.

THE EARLY BAR.

For some years after the , formation of the county the Westmoreland bar
scarcely had a name as a bar. There were no resident lawyers in Hannastown.
Lawyers came from other counties to try cases regularly before judges and
jurymen, but sessions of court were short and far between. The first lawyer
who was regularly admitted to the bar, so far as the records show, was Francis
Dade, who was sworn August 3, 1773. The old records show the names of
Espy, Irwin, Smiley, Galbraith, Megraw, Sample, Ross, Scott, Wilson and
others.

Hugh Henry Brackenridge, noted for his learning, eloquence and wit, after-
wards justice of the supreme court of Pennsylvania, was admitted at Hannas-
town, April 2nd, 1781, and for many years practiced a great deal at this bar.
L^pon his motion David Bradford was admitted in 1782. Bradford came to this
county from [Maryland, became the head and front of the Whisky Insurrection,
and was forced to flee the country. He settled finally in Mississippi, where
he became a wealthy planter. These attorneys and some others were the first,
and they practiced while the courts were held at Hannastown, and before the
removal of the county seat to Greensburg. ' Brackenridge was the most noted
of them all, and an extended sketch of him would be in keeping. in these pages
were it not that he belonged to the Allegheny county bar.

It must not be supposed that the early courts were of an inferior character
because the justices were not learned in the law. It will be remembered that
Ebenezer Webster, the father of Daniel Webster, though not a lawyer, sat for
many years as a judge of the common pleas court of New Hampshire. The

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. ^27

justices were selected with great care, and were well suited and equipped to
carry on the litigation of the primitive age in which they lived. They brought
order out of chaos, and steadily advanced the pioneer standards of jurisprudence
until 1790, when the community was intellectually ready for the more exacting
principles of the new constitution. After the constitution of 1790 went into
force, there were still three judges on the bench, the president judge alone being
learned in law, the other two being associate judges. The associate judges re-
mained on the bench in Westmoreland county until after the adoption of the
constitution of 1873.

Those who sat on the bench in Westmoreland county since the adoption of
the constitution in 1790, that is, those who were "learned in the law," as was
provided for in that constitution, are as follows :

Alexander Addison, from 1791 to 1803 ; Samuel Roberts, from 1803 to
1805 ; John Young, from 1806 to 1836, a period of thirty and a half years,
which was longer than that of any other judge on this bench ; Thomas White,
of Indiana county, from 1836 to 1847; Jeremiah J\I. Burrell, from 1847 to
1848, and again, he being a second time on the bench, as in his biography later
on will appear, from 1851 to 1855; John C. Knox, from 1848 to 1850; Joseph
Buffington, from 1855 to 1871 ; James A. Logan, from 1871 to 1879; James A.
Hunter, from 1879 to 1890.

Judges Lucian W. Doty, Alexander D. McConnell and John B. Steel are
the present occupants of the bench.

Judge Alexander Addison, like many prominent men of his day, was born
in a foreign land — in Ireland, in 1759. He received a thorough
education at Edinburgh, and was for many years a clergyman in the Presby-
terian church in Scotland. He arrived in Pennsylvania, December 20, 1785, and
applied to the old renowned Redstone Presbytery for license to preach in
southwestern Pennsylvania. From some unknown cause the examination
proved very unsatisfactory, but permission was granted to him to preach, his
application having been made from the town of Washington. Not long after
this, being perhaps disgruntled because of the difficulty in his examination, he
abandoned the ministry and took up the study of law. He finally settled in
Pittsburgh, where he practiced law for many years and with great success.

He was president judge of this district, which included the four western
counties which became so notorious in 1795 in the Whisky Insurrection. Dur-
ing this period, and for decisions growing out of the Whisky Insurrection, he
became very unpopular with the anti-Federalists. There was at that time an
associate judge on the bench named Lucas, who though not a lawyer, fre-
quently differed from the judge and tried to overrule him. He finally tried
to charge the grand jury contrary to the custom, and to set forth views opposite
those expressed by Judge Addison. On this Judge Addison stopped him,
wliich was probably what he desired. He applied to the legislature, which
tried Judge Addison by impeachment, and removed him from office in January,
1803, en the flimsiest of charges. "Xo person can read the report of the trial,"

328 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

says Judge J. W. F. White, "without feeling that it was a legal farce ; that
gross injustice was done Judge Addison from the beginning to the end, and
that the whole proceeding was a disgrace to the state. The trial took place at
Lancaster, where the legislature sat. The house and senate refused to give him
copies of certain papers, or to give assistance in procuring witnesses from Pitts-
burgh for his defense. The speakers of the counsel against him, and the rul-
ings of the senate on all questions raised in the progress of the trial, were char-
acterized by intense partisan feeling. It was not a judicial trial, but a partisan
scheme to turn out a political opponent. It resulted in deposing one of the
purest, best and ablest judges that ever sat on the bench in Pennsylvania."

Judge Addison was a scholar and learned writer. He published "Observa-
tions on Gallatin's Speech," 1798; "Analysis of the Report of the Virginia As-
sembly," 1800; and "Pennsylvania Reports," 1800. A great writer of that day
has spoken of him as "an intelligent, learned, upright and fearless judge; one
whose equal was not to be found in Pennsylvania." His charge to the grand
jury during the Whisky Insurrection is a monument to his talents and worth,
and one who remembers the political surroundings of that dav cannot read it
without being impressed with the fact that Judge Addison had fully his share
of moral courage and stamina.

Judge Addison was succeeded on the bench by Hon. Samuel Roberts, who
came from Allegheny county, and therefore little is known of him in West-
moreland. He was president judge of the Fifth Judicial district, and held the
position from 1803 to 1805. He presided in Greensburg at June term, 1803,
beginning June 20, and for the last time at December term, 1805. At that
time the judicial system of the state was remodeled by an act of the legislature
of that year. The new district of the counties of Allegheny, Beaver, ^^'ash-
ington, Fayette and Greene, was constituted the Fifth district, in which Judge
Roberts continued to preside. Westmoreland was, for the first time, in the
Tenth Judicial district, a position which it has held ever since. With this
change, therefore, Judge Roberts' connection with Westmoreland county ceased,
and since he belongs to another county we do not deem it necessary to write
further of him in these pages. He came originally from Sunbury.

Judge John Young was born in a foreign land — in Glasgow, Scotland, July
12, 1762. He was a shining member of a very prominent Scottish family
which was noted in Scotland for its learning, its aristocratic standing and
nobility, and one branch of it was knighted before the reign of unfortunate
Mary, Queen of Scots. He took the name John from his father and grand-
father. He had three brothers respectively named Thomas, Douglass and
William, and one sister named IMary, all of whom were highly educated.

The father of Judge Young was a well-to-do merchant in Glasgow and few
men of his day lived in greater affluence. He also gained a reputation for
liberality and kind qualities, which, if tradition is to be depended upon, were
inherited by his son. the subject of this sketch. Perhaps from undue liberality
he became financially involved in his later years. Still later he liailed his

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 329

brother William for a large sum of money, for which debt his property was
sold, and he died shortly after this from anxiety, superinduced by his financial
reverses.

At the time of his father's death Judge Young was a student at law in the
office of the father of the renowned novelist, Sir Walter Scott. He relin-
quished the study of law, and, first procuring places under the crown for his
brothers, he emigrated to this country, reaching Philadelphia in 1780. It is
said that he arrived with but one English shilling in his pocket. In Phil-
adelphia he attracted notice by his fine bearing. He entered the office of Mr.
Duponceau, who was an interpreter for the Philadelphia courts. In this office
h.e became very useful, not only because of his rapidly increasing knowledge
•of the law, but because of his eminent talents as a French scholar. Afterwards
he entered the office of Judge Wilson and read law diligently with him until
his admission to the bar, which was January 8, 1786. After his admission he
remained for some years practicing in the eastern counties, mainly in Phila-
delphia.

It must be remembered that Eastern Pennsylvania was settled largely by
■Germans and that the western part of the state was settled largely by Scotch-
Irish. This induced I^Ir. Young to remove to \\'estmoreland county, which
he did in 1789. Greensburg had recently been made a county seat and he
settled here and in a short time gained a large practice in this and adjoining
counties, because of his ability and his high character for integrity. For many
years after this, however, he was frequently called to Philadelphia and r)alti-
more.

He was a member of the Swendenborg church, and this belief often brought
him into association with Mr. Francis Bailey and his cultured family, where he
became acquainted with Miss Maria Barclav, who, we believe, was an orphan,
and to whom he was married in 1794. With her he lived for many years and
they had a family of three sons and five daughters. After his wife's death he
contracted a second marriage with Satira Barclay, a cousin of his former wife,
and by her he had two children — a son and a daughter.

He was always known as a man of fine ability and great force of character.
In 1 79 1 he, in company with an old Revolutionary soldier named Stokely, was
appointed a delegate to the first meeting in Pittsburgh called to consider troubles
then rife, concerning an act of Congress which had been passed in March of that
year, imposing a duty upon spirits distilled within the United States. This
law was called the "Excise Act," but the difficulties arising from it have been
written of here as the Whisky Insurrection. His participation in these ne-
gotiations added largely to his popularity and greatly increased his clientage.

In 1790, 1792 and 1793 the Indians were very troublesome in the western
part of Pennsylvania and Mr. Young is known to have served two or three
terms of two or three months each in a military capacity in defending the early
settlers against incursions. He had, however, no military predilections, his
■enlisting being only a question of duty.

330

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

He continued in the practice of law with great success until the year 1805.
In that year a vacancy occurred in the president judgeship of the Tenth judicial
district, then composed of the counties of Westmoreland, Armstrong, Somer-
. set, Cambria and Indiana. Thomas ^VIcKean was then governor of Pennsvl-
vania. There were, of course, many applicants from these counties for the
position of judge, but John Young because of his integrity, firmness and legal
erudition, was appointed, though the governor said, with what was perhaps at
that time pardonable dislike, that he did not like his religion, but had the utmost
confidence in the man. Judge Young's commission was dated at Lancaster on
the first of March, 1806, and he held office until the latter part of 1836,- a period
of thirty and one-half years, when having reached the age of life when most
men wish to retire from its active duties he resigned his commission and re-
tired to private life.

When he was appointed to the bench his learning and ability as a lawyer
were so great that even in that age, when money was extremely scarce, it is said
that his income from his practice was usually over $5,000 a year, and as a mat-
ter of course he was slow to relinquish it for the judgeship, which then paid but
a few hundred. At that time he was generally employed in all the larger cases
tried in the several courts in this and adjoining counties. There is one case of
which we have knowledge where his superior education was greatly displayed
and stood him in good' stead. It was a case involving the right of land upon
which the Roman Catholic church and monastery near Beatty's station now
stands, the dispute being between the secular and the regular clergy. H. H.
Brackenridge, Esq., afterwards Justice Brackenridge, was employed on the
other side. He had been educated for the ministry and on the trial there was a
great display of ecclesiastical learning. The bulls of the Pope and the decrees
of the council were read in the original Latin and explained with ease and ac-
curacy, and the exact extent to which canon law was acknowledged by the
common law and the statute law was thoroughly discussed. Judge Young was
at this time regarded as the best special pleader at the Western Pennsylvania
bar. In criminal court it is said that he nearly always leaned towards the
prisoner on account of a kindness of heart which has been referred to hereto-
fore. In all cases he tempered justice with leniency.

Judge Young survived his resignation a few years, dying in Greensburg,
October 6, 1840. His remains are now lying near Greensburg in a burying
ground known as the old St. Clair cemetery.

It is said that Judge Young was a master of seven languages, and one or two
of these at least were acquired when he was quite advanced in years. He wrote
and translated Latin with perfect fluency, and was equally proficient in the
French language. At one time while he was on the bench a Frenchman named
\'ictor Noel was arrested and confined in jail in Somerset county for the murder
of a man named Pollock, from Ligonier valley. Pollock was a merchant and
had been going east with a large amount of money to buy goods, when he was
waylaid by the Frenchman and murdered for his money. Judge Young ex-

-JrZ^Ent-^JZ.-.

df 9h .(^^-r-ril^

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. ;,^i

plained the indictment and the whole process of trial to the prisoner in French,
and, after his conviction, sentenced him to be hanged in "the polite and pohsned
language of his native land."

Th2 residence of Judge Young in Greensburg was on Main street, opposite
the present location of the Methodist church building. From this place he dis-
pensed charity with a lavish hand and there received his friends and indeed all
travelers who came, w'ith the most kindly and amiable disposition. An excellent
portrait of Judge Young was painted by the renowned artist Gilbert Stuart,,
who also painted the famous portrait of Washington known as the "Stuart Pic-
ture."

After the resignation of Judge Young, Thomas White, Esq., an Indiana
county lawyer, was commissioned judge of this district, it then being composed
of the counties of Westmoreland, Indiana. Armstrong and Cambria. His com-
mission was dated December 13, 1836. Early in 1837 it was read in the \\'est-
moreland county courts and he began his work on the bench. He presided at
practically all the courts held in Westmoreland county until 1847, when Jere-
miah M. Bnrrell was appointed and commissioned his successor.

Judge White had read law with the celebrated William Rawle, of Philadel-
phia, a gentleman well known in the legal annals of our state, and commenced
the practice of the law in Indiana in 1820 or 1821, wdien he was but twenty-one
years of age. He rapidly obtained a good practice. He was also engaged ex- .
tensively in business, being among other things the agent of George Clymer,
who owned great tracts of land in Indiana county. Judge White lived many
years after retiring from the bench, and served during the war of the rebellion-
as one o.f the commissioners of the well-known "Peace Convention," which met
at Washington.

On the expiration of Judge White's commission, Francis R. Shunk, gov-
ernor of Pennsylvania, appointed Jeremiah Murray Burrell, of Greensburg, to
the vacancy. He was born near Murryville, in Westmoreland county, his
father being Dr. Benjamin Burrell, who removed to Westmoreland from
Dauphin county. His mother was a daughter of the renowned Jeremiah ;\Iur-
rav, Esq. He was the only son, and his parents being wealthy, gave him a
thorough education. He was graduated at Jefferson College, at Cannonsburg,
Pennsylvania, and read law with Richard Couher, who afterwards went on the
supreme bench of the state, and is mentioned in another part of this work. Mr.
Burrell was admitted to the bar July 14, 1835. Some years after that he be-
came the owner and editor of the Pennsylvania Argus, an avocation not un-
common for active, energetic members of the bar in that day. He was a
staunch Democrat, and made his paper bristle with the doctrines of his party.
In the great campaign of 1840, the "Log Cabin campaign," the hottest in the
history of national politics, he established a great name as a writer. He not
onlv made a state reputation, but some of his articles on political topics were
answered by Horace Greeley in the Nczv York Tribune, this giving him a still
wider fame. In the campaign of 1844 he was one of the most eloquent speakers-

332 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

and writers in Pennsylvania in behalf of James K. Polk, and in debate was
pitted against Thomas Williams and otlier great orators of that day. He was
after this elected to the state legislature, where he distinguished himself as a
leader of the house. It is said that no man in the state in his day could speak
more eloquently than he.

The late Major William H. Hackey, who was contemporaneous with Judge
Burrell. delighted to tell a story illustrative of the latter's splendid oratory. A
large outdoor Democratic convention was being held in Pittsburgh in 1844.
The addresses were made from the portico o,f the Monongahela house, but the
crowd was so dense and enthusiastic that the speakers could not be heard.
Finally Burrell, then twenty-nine years old, was introduced and in loud clear
tones readily made himself heard by all the surging multitude. Some one,
caught by his eloquence, inquired of those around him who the speaker was.
"I told him," said the major, "with all the home pride I could muster, that the
■eloquent speaker was J. W. Burrell, of Greensburg, the most gifted young ora-
tor in Pennsylvania." Very soon, as the major said, the audience was quieted
■down and listened to his address with enraptured admiration till he had fin-
ished speaking.

At that time in Pennsylvania judges were appointed by the governor and
confirmed by the senate. When the chief executive sent ^Mr. Burrell's name
to the senate, so bitter had been many of his contests in the legislature, that the
senate refused, doubtless on political grounds, to confirm the nomination. After
the legislature adjourned Governor Shunk commissioned him and he imme-
diately assumed the duties of the office. The question as to whether the gov-
ernor had this power was widely discussed in Pennsylvania. There had been
several legal expositions of parallel cases under the constitution of the United
States, which in its method of filling certain vacancies was identical in lan-
-guage with that of the Pennsylvania constitution of 1838. These expositions
of opinion had been given by William \\'irt and Roger B. Taney, both attor-
ney generals, and the latter afterwards chief justice of the United States. Upon
these opinions Governor Shunk based his right to make the appointment.

The record of the court of common pleas has this minute : "Monday morn-
ing, 24th May, 1847, Jeremiah M. Burrell appeared upon the bench and pre-
sented his commission from the Governor of Pennsylvania, dated 27th March,

1847, appointing him President Judge of the Tenth Judicial District of Penn-
sylvania, composed of the counties of Cambria, Indiana, Armstrong and West-
moreland."

After carefully weighing tlie different opinions, it was deemed advisable
to vacate this appointment, and the governor nominated Hon. John C. Knox,
of Tioga county, for the position. His nomination was promptly confirmed
by the senate. Judge Knox thereupon began his work on the bench ]\Iay 22,

1848, Judge Burrell becoming a practicing lawyer in the bar. In 1850 the
constitution of the state was so amended that the judgeship became an elective
ofTice. It is highly creditable to Judge Burrell that when this new law went

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 1,^1,,

into effect he was the one man in the district who, in the popular opinion, was
pre-eminently above all others fitted for the position. His nomination fol-
lowed and resulted in his election in 185 1.

His new commission was presented in Westmoreland county and read on
February 16, 1852. He filled the office in this district until 1855, when Presi-
dent Franklin Pierce appointed him judge of the District Court of the United
States for Kansas. Shortly after assuming the duties of this office he came to
Greensburg on a visit, apparently in good health, but was suddenly afflicted
with laryngitis, from which he died on October 21, 1856, after but a few days'
illness.

Judge Burrell's early training was in the old school Presbyterian faith.
When quite a young man he married Miss Anna Elizabeth Richardson, a wo-
man of unusual beauty and accomplishments, who is yet living (1905). A few
years after his marriage he built a handsome residence in Greensburg, which
was surrounded by large grounds, most tastefully laid out. He was a man.
gifted with high social qualities, rare tastes and refinement, and was of a
generous nature, passionately fond of his library and of music. Like the em-
ment Chief Justice Gibson, he played with singular skill upon both the f^ute
and violin. As a judge, he lent dignity to and created a good impression in
all the courts in which he presided. He was a full cousin to the mother of
Judge Samuel A. and W. H. JNlcClung, of Pittsburgh.

That he was a lawyer of large practice before going on the bench is evi-
denced by our court records, which show that Judge Kimmell, of Somerset
county, and Judge Agnew, afterwards chief justice of Pennsylvania, frequently
came to Greensburg to try cases in which Judge Burrell had been engaged as
counsel while a practicing lawyer, and was therefore disqualified to try. His
early death was deeply regretted by both the bench and the bar.

When court met on the morning of May 22, 1848, John C. Knox, of Tioga
county, appeared and was conducted to the bench by Judge Burrell, when a
commission appointing Knox to the office of judgeship of the Tenth judicial
district was read in open court. A perusal of the sketch of Judge Burrell, im-
mediately preceding this, will explain his elevation to the bench.

Judge Knox was easily one of the most eminent lawyers who ever sat on the
bench in the Tenth judicial district, then composed of the counties of Cambria,
Indiana, Armstrong and Westmoreland. He presided but a short time in West-
moreland, for the new law of 1850 vacated his position, and the election of
Judge Burrell, as above indicated, followed. In 1 851 he therefore left the
district, returned to his home in Tioga county and was at once
elected judge of his district over Judge Buffington. In 1853 he-
was appointed to the supreme bench to fill the vacancy caused by the death of
the most eminent lawyer and jurist ever produced in Pennsylvania, Chief Jus-
tice John Bannister Gibson. That the governor should select him to fill this
position is of itself a sufficient eulogy of his character and legal attainments..
He filled the position with ability until 1857, when he resigned to become attor-

334 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

ney g-eneral of the commonwealth under Governor Pollock. In 1861 he re-
moved to Philadelphia to practice law. Unfortunately very shortly after this
he was afflicted with softening of the brain, from which he never recovered, but
spent the remainder of his days in the state asylum at Norristown, where he
died about a quarter of a century after. More would be said of him in these
pages were it not that he belongs properly to Tioga county.

Judge Joseph Buffington presided for many years in what was and is now
termed the "old Tenth" district. He was born in the town of West Chester,
Pennsylvania, on November 27, 1803. He was of Quaker extraction, his an-
cestors coming from the Friends or Quakers in Middlesex, England. His
•grandfather, Jonathan Buffington, was a miller near Chad's Ford, in Chester
county, during the Revolution. His 'father, Ephraim Buffington, kept an inn or
tavern stand known as the "Whitehall," at West Chester, which in its day was a
■celebrated hostelry. When Joseph Buffington was ten years of old, his father,
in hopes of improving his fortune, moved .west and settled on the Allegheny
river, near Pittsburgh. During this journey, which, of course, was made in
wagons, as Judge Buffington often related, he passed through Greensburg and
stopped at the old Rohrer house, now the Null house. He also said that it was
here for the first time that he saw a soft coal fire. A few years afterwards he
■entered the University of Pittsburgh, and though he was not graduated, he was
well educated. Afterwards young Buffington settled in Butler, Pennsylvania,
and before studying law was an editor of a weekly paper called the Butler Re-
pository, and in this he was associated with Samuel A. Purviance, who after-
wards became eminent in the Allegheny county bar and was attorney general
of the commonwealth under Governor Curtin in 1861. Buffington read law
with Samuel Ayers, of Butler, and while a student was married to Catharine
Mechling, daughter of Jacob Mechling, who, about that time, was in the Penn-
sylvania senate. In July, 1826, he was admitted to the bar and began to prac-
tice in Butler county. He only remained there about a year and then removed
to Armstrong county, locating in Kittanning, where he resided continuously
until his death. His industry, integrity and close application brought him the
highest fruit of his profession. Like most lawyers of his day, he took an active
part in politics. He was a member of the Anti-Masonic party in 1831, and
served as a delegate to the national convention of that body in 1832, which met
in Baltimore and nominated William Wirt for the presidency. He was several
times nominated for offices, but his party being in the minority, he was not
elected. In 1840 he became identified with the Whig party and took an active
■interest in the election of General Harrison, being a presidential elector.

During these years when he was engaged in the practice of the law, his work
was not confined to Armstrong county, but spread over Clarion, Jefiferson and
Indiana, and sometimes he appeared in the Westmoreland county courts. In
these counties he was connected with nearly all of the important land trials, and
it is said that his knowledge of the law regulating this then very prominent
branch of litigation was most accurate. In 1842 he was elected a member of

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

335

Congress as a Whig in the district composed of the counties of Armstrong,
Butler, Clearfield and Indiana. He was re-elected in 1844. Shortly after his
retirement from Congress, his friend and fellow townsman, William F. John-
ston, having been elected governor, appointed him judge of the Eighteenth
judicial district, composed of the counties of Clarion, Elk, Jefferson and \'en-
ango. This position he held until the office became elective in 185 1, when he
was defeated by Hon. John C. Knox, of whom we have previouslv spoken. In
1852 he was nominated by the Whig party for a place on the supreme bench of
Pennsylvania. But the Whig party that year was defeated, the candidate for
president being Gen. \Mnfield Scott, and Buffington went down with his party,
the late Justice Woodward, of Luzerne county, being elected. During the
same year President Filmore nominated him to be chief justice of Utah terri-
tory. The great distance of Utah territory from his home led him to decline
the proffered honor, though he was greatly pressed to accept it.

On the resignation of Judge Burrell as judge of the Tenth judicial district
he was appointed to that position in 1855 by Governor Pollock, with whom he
had served in Congress, and then began his connection with Westmoreland
county. The year following he was elected for a term of ten years. In this
contest he had no opponent, the opposition declining to nominate through the
advice of James Buchanan, who was a personal friend of Buffington's and who
was himself a candidate for president of the United States. In 1866 Judge
Bufifington was re-elected for another term of ten years. In 1871 he resigned
from the bench, when declining health admonished him tliat his days of labor
were nearly ended. Judge Buffington was undoubtedly one of the ablest law-
yers who ever sat on the Westmoreland bench. He died in Kittaning on Sat-
urday, Februarv- 3, 1872.

Judge James Addison Logan descended from Scotch-Irish ancestry and
was born in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, on the Allegheny river, De-
cember 3, 1839. His boyhood days were spent on the farm, on the river and at
the country school in the neighborhood of his birthplace. After reaching the
proper age he began an academic course at Elders Ridge academy, from which
he was graduated in due course of time with the honors of his class. Upon
completing his academic course he began the study of law in the office of Major
W. A. Stokes, then a celebrated lawyer and counsel for the Pennsylvania Rail-
road company at Greensburg, Pennsylvania. Soon afterwards Major Stokes
went into the army, and Mr. Logan entered the office of Hon. Harrison P.
Laird. Under this preceptorship he finished his studies, and was admitted to
the bar in May, 1863. With such lawyers as Henry D. Foster and Edgar
Cowan in active practice in the courts in a rural county, the field for young
effort was not inviting. Mr. Logan, however, immediately gained a prominent
place at the bar.

In 1868, when Henry D. Foster contested the seat of Hon. John Covode in
the national house of representatives, Mr. Logan was counsel for the respon-
dent, and conducted the defence with such skill as to greatly extend his repu-

336 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

tation. In 1870 he was appointed local solicitor for the Pennsylvania Railroad
company at Greensburg. That corporation was at that time involved in some
important litigation, of which the new solicitor assumed charge. Among the
suits was the celebrated case of John Snodgrass and Israel Painter, contrac-
tors for furnishing the Union army with beeves, who claimed that the railroad
company had overcharged them a large amount on their shipments of cattle.
'The case was referred to arbitration. The arbitrators appointed were Judge
Buffington, ot Armstrong county ; Judge J. K. Ewing, Hon. James Veach and
Hon. Daniel Kane, of Fayette county, Hon. Hugh Weir, of Indiana county, rep-
resenting the best legal talent in Western Pennsylvania. Eminent lawyers were
retained by the plaintiffs, and a stubborn fight was made. Mr. Logan sub-
stantially won the case.

In 1871 Judge Buffington resigned, leaving a vacancy on the bench. The
governor selected Mr. Logan for the position. He was at that time thirty-cne
years of age, and was perhaps the youngest judge on the common pleas bench,
and presided over the largest judicial district, both in population and area,
in the state. The following year he was unanimously nominated by his party
for the full term of ten years. The Democratic candidate was Hon. Silas AI.
Clark, a resident of Indiana county, who subsequently became one of the jus-
tices of the supreme court of the state. Judge Clark was very popular and
widely known in the district, but Judge Logan was elected by the usual ma-
jority. His judicial career was eminently successful. When he came upon the
bench a lawless class had for some time infested the coal regions of Armstrong
county, and was growing dominant. By vigorous and fearless administration
of the criminal law Judge Logan restored authority, and brought the county
back to cjuiet and good order.

In 1875 occurred what were known as the Italian riots in \\'estmoreland
county. A large number of persons, some of them prominent in the county,
were concerned in fomenting disturbance, which resulted in the daylight
slaughter of four Italian miners. The judge did not halt or wait for others
to move in the enforcement of the law. He called the grand jury together and
submitted the facts to them. A number of indictments were immediately
found. The moral effect of this energetic course was long felt in the county.

He served on the bench until 1879, when he resigned to accept the position
with the Pennsylvania Railroad company, as their assistant general solicitor,
and was shortly afterwards promoted to the office of general solicitor.

During his service on the bench Judge Logan won an enviable reputation
as a judge. Prompt and vigorous in the dispatch of business, the work of the
court was pressed forward and the interest of the people promoted. He was
courteous but firm, severe but dignified, and enjoyed the fullest confidence of
the bar, and the respect and esteem of the public. His judicial opinions, when
orally delivered, were clear, concise and to the point, and when written, force-
ful, lucid and admirable in every respect. Upon his retirement the people were

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 7,17

unanimous in expressions of regret at the loss of his valuable services on the
bench.

An adequate sketch of his career as a railroad lawyer is not possible
without considering with more detail than is here practicable the functions of
the legal department of a great and growing railroad corporation. Railroad
and corporation law demands for its successful prosecution, from the practical
side to-day, the same high order of talent in the lawyer that the law of real
property demanded of its successful practitioners during its formative period,
and which constitutional law as a branch of jurisprudence has required in all
times. And. indeed, railroad law has so much to do with constitutional law
that, to be a great railroad lawyer, a man must also be a great constitutional
lawyer.

Judge Logan's connection with the litigation of the Pennsylvania Railroad
Company and its more than one hundred associated corporations has been in-
timate and direct, and much of the success with which it has met has been also
his success. In the famous suit which Attorney General Cassidy brought
against the Pennsylvania Railroad Company and other lines a few years ago,
known as the South Penn Equity Proceedings, he took a prominent part. The
cases of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company vs. Lippincott, and the Pennsyl-
vania Railroad Company vs. Marchant, known as the Filbert Street Extension
cases, were argued by counsel and decided by the court upon grounds which
he suggested. Those cases which were decided in 1887 and 1888, and are al-
ready leading cases in the law, established that the property of a railroad cor-
poration is governed by the same rules as to liabilities in its user as that of in-
dividuals. It declared that the Pennsylvania Railroad Company was not liable
for the depreciation of real estate values on the north side of Filbert street in-
cidentally caused by the lawful operation of its trains on its own property on
the south side. The declaration of this principle, it is' needless to say, was
worth a great deal to corporations throughout the state. At least fifty suits
for damages against the Pennsylvania Railroad Company fell with the de-
cisions in which it was announced.

Since the formation of the Inter-State Commerce Commission, Judge Logan
largely rei)resented the corporation in the contested cases before the commis-
sion, as well as in many conferences with the commission. In the line of
official duty he has been brought in contact with the most distinguished law-
yers from all sections of the country, and his reputation as a lawyer has not
suffered by the contact. Judge Logan's duties required general supervision of
all the litigation of the company and the lines it leased or controlled east of
Pittsburgh, and immediate advice and conference with the chief executive and
department officers in connection with the important administrative conduct of
corporate affairs. He had. therefore, use for all the legal attainments of his
lifetime, as well as the habits of industry which he early acquired.

He was married April 13, 1871, to a daughter of Hon. A. G. Marchand.
who is written of elsewhere in these pages. With his wife and children he

338 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

lived comfortably at Bala, on the Schuylkill valley branch of the Pennsylvania
railroad, just beyond the limits of Fairmount Park.

In 1888 the faculty of ^^'ashington and Jeiiferson College, at Washington,
Pennsylvania, one of the most noted and conservative educational institutions
of the country, conferred on him the honorary degree of doctor of laws. He
died October 29, 1902.

Immediately upon the resignation of Judge Logan, in 1879, Governo.r Henry
M. Hoyt appointed Hon. James A. Hunter to the Westmoreland countv bench,
his commission being dated July 12, 1879. At that time Westmoreland county
was strongly Democratic, and even Judge Hunter's most ardent friends scarcely
entertained any hope of his election. He, however, accepted the commission
and assumed the duties of the office at once. Later on in the year he was
nominated by the Republican party as their candidate for judge, against Arch-
ibald A. Stewart, who had been previously nominated by the Democrats. The
election came on and proved to be a very bitter one. Many old line Democrats
were dissatisfied with the nomination of Mr. Stewart. The Republicans took
advantage of this disaiTection in the Democratic party, with the result that in
the November election Judge Hunter was victorious, having more than a
thousand majority over Mr. Stewart, and therefore filled the office by virtue
of his appointment and his election from July 12, 1879, to January i, 1890.

Judge Hunter was born in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, April 18, 1835,
his father having been a native of Londonderry, Ireland. He received a com-
mon school education, was afterwards a school teacher, read law with James
Todd, of the Westmoreland bar, who had been formerly a Philadelphia lawyer
and attorney general of the commonwealth under Governor Rittner. Judge
Hunter was admitted to the bar in 1858 and practiced law almost continuously
until he went on the bench. He was register in bankruptcy under the L'nited
States bankrupt law in 1S67, which position he resigned to become a member
of the legislature for the session of 1869. Very early after his admission to the
bar he made for himself a reputation as a public speaker second to no one at
the bar, and he was always greatly sought for to address all kinds of meetings,
particularly Republican meetings, where, as a stump speaker, he had few
equals.

After Judge Hunter's retirement from the bench he resumed the practice
of the law. He was never a man of strong constitution, and in 1893 was taken
sick with pneumonia, and died June 13, after a few days' illness, and was buried
at Greensburg.

Judge Hunter's term of office finished up exactly one hundred years of
courts with judges learned in the law, as was provided for in the constitution
of 1790. He was the ninth judge in a century, though Judges Roberts and
Knox served short terms, and Burrell and Logan both resigned.

A desultory glance at the advancements made in the administration of jus-
tice will show the most casual observer that thev have done their work faith-

HISTORY OF JVESTMORELAND COUNTY. 339

fully and well. A century has wrought great changes in the county. As has
been seen, the early judges presided over a number of counties, never less than
three. During these years the judges journeyed on horseback from one county
to another, and the more prominent lawyers rode the circuit with them. It was
jiot infrequent in those days that litigants stood at the court house steps and
employed their attorneys perhaps but a few minutes before their cause was
called for trial.

For long years in Greensburg the sheriff of the county, after the ancient
English custom, collected a body of mounted men who rode out to meet the
coming judge and escort him into the village. This custom was kept up until
the early fifties, passing away with railroad building, after which the judges
no longer arrived on horseback.

By the constitution of 1790 the judges were appointed for life. This pro-
vision obtained until 1838. when a new constitution changed the term only,
making it for ten years instead of for life. In 1850 the constitution was
amended so as to make the office an elective one, the term remaining the same.
This amendment was ingrafted in the constitution of 1873 ^"d still prevails.

Since 1874 Westmoreland county has been a separate judicial district, gain-
ing this by virtue of the new constitution adopted in 1873. Since then we have
bad no associate judges on the bench.

EMINENT LAWYERS OF THE PAST.

There is but one name, leading all others, with which to head this list, and
that is John B. Alexander. He was born in Carlisle, Cumberland county, Penn-
sylvania, and was admitted to the Westmoreland bar in December, 1804. After
that, during his long lifetime, he was always one of its most prominent and
active members, and in his later years there is little doubt but that he stood at
the very head of the profession in Western Pennsylvania.

Mr. Alexander was highly educated, having received a thorough collegiate
education in the early days of the last century, when classical attainments were
regarded at their true value and had not been proscribed by the modern, so-
called educaticinal reformers. He was, moreover, a lifelong student, confining
liimself to the law, the Greek and Latin languages and to Shakespeare, to the
exclusion of nearly everything else. With the writings of the great dramatist
be was so familiar that he quoted them almost unconsciously when addressing
a court or a jury. From this source he undoubtedly gathered much of his re-
nowned strength as an advocate.

On only two occasions did he allow his mind to be drawn from his chosen
profession. The first was in the war of 1812, during which he collected a com-
pany of volunteers, was elected its captain and served with credit under Gen.
eral \\'illiam Henry Harrison. The company was named the "Greensburg
Rifles."' \\'hen his company entered the service a battalion was formed by
-uniting it with several other companies, and Alexander was elected major.

340

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

Thus he received the niiUtary title b_v which he was known during the rest of
his Hfe. This was, of course, in his younger days, when he had not yet risen to
the highest place in his profession. He had been brought up in the town of
Carlisle, where the United States had long maintained a barracks, and though
evincing no special military predilections, he always commanded his company
in a rich and gaudy uniform, which was made none the less showy by his
majestic person. He expended large sums of money from his own purse on
equipments and horses.

His military services were largely in the Northwestern territory. His bat-
talion captured a six-pound cannon of great weight, made, as its inscription
indicates, by the Spaniards in the eighteenth century. At the close of the war
Major Alexander brought this prize to Greensburg, and it is yet a valued pos-
session of his nephew. General Richard Couher. In 1824 the major and his
companv turned out to do honors to Lafayette on the occasion of the patriotic
Frenchman's visit to Westmoreland county.

It is said that his fondness for military display, acquired in his youth, be-
came a weakness in his old age, and that as he grew older he was easily flat-
tered on that point. His military reputation, however, had a substantial foun-
dation. Some years after the war, when Sanford was acting in Pittsburgh in
the role of "Jim Crow," it was discovered by the actor that Alexander was in
the audience, he being there in attendance upon the supreme court. The ready
actor drew the attention of the audience to Alexander by improvising the fol-
lowing :

"Old General Harrison,

He was a big commander;
And the next big hero there
Was Major Alexander."

Of course a compliment of this kind was received with uproarious applause
by the Pittsburgh people, and the major was highly gratified.

At one time he fought a duel with a man named Mason, of Uniontown,
Fayette county, but neither combatant was wounded. Both desired a second
fire, but the seconds interfered and prevented it.

The second occasion which drew him from the practice of the law was his
election to the general assembly. In 1834 this county was represented in the
general assembly by James Findla}-, who was appointed secretary of the com-
monwealth by Governor Wolf. Findlay himself w-as a very brilliant man, and
the people, with one accord, wishing to send a man to fill his place who would
not discredit his high standing, selected Alexander. He was not a successful
representative. As may be supposed, so eminent a lawyer as he was entirely
out of his element when in the state legislature. There he had to measure swords
with men in small matters who were much beneath him. His great powers
were not called into requisition, and before the session was over he left the
legislature in disgust, mounted his horse, "Somerset," which he had ridden
from Westmoreland county to Harrisburg, and came home. He characterized

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 341

the legislature in language more emphatic than elegant. After that he took no
part whatever in politics until 1840, when his "Old Commander" was a can-
didate for the presidency. He presided that year at a Harrison meeting in
Greensbnrg, but wa^ infirm with age, and died but a short time after Har-
rison's election. Alexander was always an uncompromising old line Whig
m politics.

It is doubtless fair to say that prior to 1850 he had no equal at the West-
moreland bar. Richard Coulter, it is true, though a younger man, was su-
perior in eloquence to Alexander ; and in his exhaustive reading and in his
general knowledge, Alexander W. Foster may have been quite his equal, but
in the give and take of the trials at the bar, in the preparation of papers and in
all that goes to make a truly great lawyer, Alexander had at all events no su-
perior. Once when complimented upon his legal knowledge as having come
naturally to him, he replied: "Oh, no; I owe it all to hard study; I arise early
ill the morning and study while others are in bed ;" a habit which he retained
fven in his old age. There is a tradition of him that he read Blackstone once
a year. At one time he was counsel in a very heavy land title case which was
to be tried in the United States supreme court, and against him was employed
the celebrated William Wirt, of Baltimore. In his argument before this high
court the \\'estniore!and lawyer showed such knowledge of the law and such
general ability that he astonished the bar and the court. At the conclusion of
his argument he was complimented by Wirt, and by Daniel Webster, also, who
was present, and who expressed in his grandest way his admiration of the
manner in which Alexander had handled the case and of his exposition of the
law. This must not appear remarkable, for perhaps in the abstruse land law
of Pennsylvania Alexander was superior to either Wirt or Webster.

A few years ago an old gentleman, now dead, told the writer that when a
boy in the early "thirties" he saw Major Alexander take a drink in the present
Fisher house, which those with him said was to stimulate him for an address
he was to deliver that afternoon in a very important trial. Holding up the
glass, showing the liquid scarcely concealed by his hand, he said, "Four fin-
gers, gentlemen, and for every finger the old judge gets an hour this afternoon."
Shortly before that, when Webster replied to Hayne, as he was passing down
the senate chamber, Clayton said to him: "Are you loaded, Mr. Webster?"
Glancing angrily at Vice-President Calhoun and holding up his hand, he said,
"Four fingers." It was a pioneer hunter's expression, meaning a heavy charge
of powder, a load for big game.

John R. Alexander was a son of John Alexander, who was of Scotch-Irish
extraction and who was born in Cumberland county. His wife was a j\Iiss
Smith, also of Cumberland county. They had no children. Two of his sis-
ters, however, were married in Westmoreland county, the one to Hon. Joseph
H. Kuhns, the other to Eli Coulter, the father of General Richard Coulter.

In personal appearance ^Ir. Alexander was about five feet ten inches tall
and weighed about two hundred and forty pounds. His residence in Greens-

342

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

burg was a large brick liouse on ]\[ain street, diagonally across the street from
the Methodist church, where the Zimmerman house now stands. Indeed, the
Zimmerman house is but an enlargement of his old residence, the main front
and side walls of the present structure being those of Alexander's home. In
the latter years of his life he lived south of Greensburg on a farm, where he
greatly amused himself by agriculture and horticulture and by raising superior
breeds of cattle and poultry. The engraving of IMajor Alexander given in
these pages is from an oil painting made about the close of the war of 1812,
and now in possession of General Coulter.

Alexander W. Foster was the soji of William Foster, of Chester county,
and was born in 1771. He was admitted to the Philadelphia bar, having read
law with Edward Bird, Esq., in 1793. In 1796 his family moved from Chester
county to Meadville, Crawford county. Here he practiced law for a number
of years and achieved an enviable reputation in his profession. So wide was
his fame that his practice frequently took him to most of the counties between
Pittsburgh and Erie. In 1812 he was retained in a Westmoreland case, and
he so favorably impressed some of his clients and was so favorably impressed
with the town and the community that he removed to Greensburg, thereafter
becoming a citizen of Westmoreland county and a member of the Westmore-
land bar. He very rapidly attained a large practice and was undoubtedly one
of the best lawyers in the profession. The trio, Alexander, Foster and Coul-
ter, had no superiors in Western Pennsylvania. He did not possess the im-
passioned and florid eloquence of Richard Coulter, nor the great legal erudi-
tion of Alexander, but his professional attainments were said to have been
more extensive than those of the former, and as a trial lawyer, particularly in
the cross-examination of witnesses, he had more ability than the latter. Al-
though inferior to Alexander in an argument before the court, he was superior
to him before a jury, where he was nearly, if not quite, equal to Coulter.

Foster had a kind, genial .disposition and his office was for many years
said to be the best place in Greensburg to read law. He often conferred with
his students, put questions to them, argued with them, examined them and
held in his office a sort of "moot" court. Several of his students who arose to
distinction in the law in after years attributed a great part of their success to
him, and one at least has said that he learned more law orally from Foster than
he learned by reading his books. Of course he excelled in any branch of the
profession, but in the cross-examination of witnesses he was probably seen at
his best. It is said that he could, better than any member of the bar of his
day, expose the falsehood or fraud of an evily disposed witness, and that he
could do this in a mild, genteel way which nevertheless forced attention or
moved to laughter. His kindly nature precluded the possibility of his being
genuinely sarcastic, yet when necessary he could be extremely severe. He
excelled also in his command of language and in the marshalling of his ideas.
He could most suitably express his thoughts without halting, without error,
and apparently without effort. ]\Iost of his arguments were copiously illus-

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

343

trated with amusing anecdotes, some of which he seemed, hke Lincohi, to have
invented for the occasion. Many of these stories are fresh and interesting
when read or repeated even to-day. Socially he was always a leader, being-
very fond of company, and he moreover had great conversational powers.

yir. Foster. like Alexander, delighted in agriculture. He wrote articles on
the practical application of chemistry to farming and delivered many orations
at public gatherings and at county fairs in Greensburg. a practice that was
then in vogue throughout all the counties of the state.

In 1820 and 1822 he was the Federalist candidate for Congress in the dis-
trict which was then composed of Westmoreland, Indiana, Armstrong and
Jefferson counties, but he was defeated in each case because he was on the un-
popular side, though in 1820. in the strong Democratic county of Westmore-
land, he obtained a small majority. After the breaking up of the Federalist
party he became an Anti-iMason, and when that political party collapsed he be-
came a Whig, and so remained until his death.

In person he was of medium size and weight, rather inclined to leanness
than to corpulency, was of the nervo-bilious temperament and his complexion
sallow, with a tendency to pallor. He was greatly addicted to smoking, a cigar
being his constant companion, and for his own use he had hot houses built and
grew Spanish tobacco. He was the uncle of Henry D. Foster, who will be
spoken of hereafter and who later arose to great eminence at this bar.

James Findlay was born in 1801. in Franklin county. He was educated at
Princeton College and read law in Harrisburg with Francis R. Shimk, his
father having in the meantime removed from Franklin county to Dauphin
county. For the first year or two after being admitted to the bar he practiced
in York county, but without great success, and in 1824 removed to Greensburg
and was admitted to the bar August 23 of that year. This was a good loca-
tion for him. The legal business of Westmoreland county in that day was
abundant. Law^yers from Pittsburgh and other counties frequently attended
the courts in Westmoreland county. His natural talents, fine education and
thorough training in the law soon placed him at the head of his profession.
\ ery soon after he came to Westmoreland county he was made prosecuting
attorney and was filling that office when James Evans was tried for murder in
1830. This murder case is perhaps, all things being considered, the most noted
one ever tried in Westmoreland county. Findlay was a Democrat. General
Jackson was president of the United States, and Wolf, a Democrat, was gov-
ernor of Pennsylvania. Thus his party was in power both in the state and
nation, and perhaps the political side of life looked more rosy to him than the
more rugged life of a practicing lawyer. At all events he entered politics and
in 183 1. 1832 and 1833 he was elected to the legislature. In the latter year
Samuel McLean, who was secretary of the commonwealth, was elected to the
United States Senate. Such was the reputation of James Findlay, though only
thirty-two years old, that Governor Wolf at once tendered him the place of
secretary of the commonwealth. This place he filled for a number of years,

344 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

and in 1836 he removed to Pittsburgh, where he adiieved a still greater emi-
nence in his profession.

The story of the life and professional services of John F. Beaver is well
told in an article which appeared about the time of his death, which was writ-
ten by a fellow member of this bar, now dead, and we depend on it largely con-
cerning this notable man. He died in Newton Falls, Ohio, on June 12, 1877.
Sixty-two years have passed away since he left Greensburg, yet his name and
fame are still fresh in the recollection of the older people of the county. His
genial character and his exuberant flow of animal spirits rendered him conspic-
uous in every company, so. much so, indeed, that it was difficult to forget him.

He was born near Stoystown, in Somerset county, his maternal grandfather,
Daniel M. Stoy, having given his name to the village. His father, Henry
Beaver, removed some years afterwards to Grapeville, and here John F. Beaver
continued to live until 1844, when he removed to Ohio. His physical organiza-
tion was remarkable, and he excelled in all athletic sports which required
strength and precision of muscular action. He was a large heavy man. With
a rifle he was unerring and, like Xatty Bumpo, nothing but the center — "pierc-
ing the bull's eye" — would satisfy him.

Hearing upon one occasion of a match to. shoot for a bear in a remote part
of the county, he dropped in and was solicited to take a stake to make up the
match, which he' could not decline. No one, of course, knew Beaver, who was
apparently without a gun, but a boy was standing near with a ponderous, rather
rusty looking rifle, and Beaver suggested that he might borrow this from the
bo}^ The affair then commenced and when Beaver's turn came some one
kindly volunteered to show him how to hold his weapon and so on. He was
very unsteady, his rifle shaking, but somehow the nail was driven. This was
rare sport and the luck of the lawyer was marvelous. But each round was fol-
lowed by the same result. Finally he won the bear and then a chain was seen
hanging from the pocket of the boy who had brought the rusty gun. This was
Beaver's son, who had come prepared to take the bear home. To. finish up the
affair he then disclosed his identity and gave a good dinner to the whole party,
and, of course, made them ever afterwards his friends.

At about the age of twenty-one he cut himself with an ax and was confined
to bed for some weeks. At that time he was illiterate, barely able to read, but
seeing a copy of Smith's Laws, which had belonged to his Grandfather Story
when a justice of the peace in Somerset county, he determined to read them,
dry as they were. This he did, and with so much zeal and vigor that by the
time his wound was healed he was regarded as quite a lawyer in the com-
munity, .^t all events this reading gave him a taste for the law, and with this
purpose in view he placed himself under the direction of Alexander W. Foster,
Esq., and read law with him. Foster thought he saw in this rugged young
Hercules something better than muscle, and he encouraged him to persevere.

He read law for five years, boarding all the time in Grapeville, four miles
from Greensburg. walking in and out every day. He was admitted to the bar

HISTORY or ]l'ESTMOREL.L\D COUXTV. 345

in February, 1833, and soon gained a large practice. He was an Anti-JMason
in politics and afterwards a Whig, and then belonged to the Free-Soil party.
He ran for congress in 1840 as a Whig and was defeated by Hon. A. G.
Marchand, who will be mentioned hereafter. The well-known late editor of
the Argus. John M. Laird, Esq., was, during this campaign, chairman of the
Democratic county committee. On the day of a large convention in Greensburg
he and Beaver stopped at the same hotel. Mr. Lafrd was on a committee to
frame resolutions against the election of Beaver.

Mr. Laird had a very large head, so had Beaver : and when Mr. Laird went
to dinner he mistook his hat and put his resolutions in Beaver's hat. Imme-
diately after dinner Beaver discovered the mistake and taking his hat with Mr.
Laird's resolutions went over to the courthouse and presented them in open
•court. These resolutions denounced him (Beaver) as a scamp and unworthy
■of any respectable citizen's support. Judge White was on the bench. No one
relished a joke more than he, but he gravely decided that he had no jurisdic-
tion in the matter. The resolutions were returned to Mr. Laird. Such was
the good humor and fun of the old men of the bar more than sixty years ago.

Beaver, however, had a great deal of professional business, not only in
this, but in Allegheny county. In 1842 he sold his office and furniture to
Edgar Cowan, then a young member of the bar. His success at the bar in the
supreme court was very marked, he being a great favorite with the judges
on account of his fair and candid bearing toward them, as well as because
•of his ability and native wit.

In Ohio he was elected to the state senate as soon as he had resided there
long enough to be qualified, and attracted attention and consideration by his
immense size, his dress and his singular intellectual ability. The senate was a
tie without him and he was looked for with great anxiety when that body met.
He drove all the way from Mahoning countv to Columbus, as there were no
railroads in those days. His wagon broke down when he was twelve miles
distant from the state capital. He completed the journey on foot and reached
the senate just as they were about to take an important vote. He was a
stranger, of immense build, covered with mud, and as he strode into the cham-
her he was greeted with cheers, and "his boots" became famous in song and
story for }'ears afterwards. He was a leader in politics for some time, and at
one time came within one or two votes of being nominated for governor of
Ohio. All his life he was a student, and enlarged year by year the boundaries
of his knowledge in every direction. His memory was astonishing, extending
even to tlie minutest details. He was without vanity or pride or conceit, and
if his clothes had been indestructible he would have worn the same suit all his
life. Mr. Cowan, once having in various ways got his measure, procured for
him a new suit of fashionable clothes, including a pair of polished boots and a
■■stove])ipe" hat. There was some coaxing necessary to get him to don the rig,
liut once on and in the street, the town turned out and gave him an ovation.

346 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

He was a unique character, a great lawyer and a thoroughly representative
man of his day.

Justice Richard Coulter was in all probability the most eloquent member
of the Westmoreland county bar in the nineteenth century. He was the son of
Eli and Priscilla (Small) Coulter, and was of Scotch-Irish descent. He was
born in Westmoreland county, in what is now Versailles township, Allegheny
county, Pennsylvania, in Alarch, 1788. In 1793 his family moved to Greens-
burg. He was educated at Jefiferson College, but did not remain for gradua-
tion. He read lav/ in the office of his brother-in-law, John Lyon, of Union-
town, Fayette county, and was admitted to practice in that county November
19, 1810. On February 18, 181 1, on motion of John B. Alexander, he was
admitted to the Westmoreland county bar. Soon after his admission he
entered the field of politics, induced to do so doubtless by his friends, because
of his natural talent as a public speaker. It was the age of oratory both in
legislative halls and at the bar, and a young man of forceful powers of public
speech was naturally pushed out into political life.

He began at the bottom, being elected to the Pennsylvania legislature in
1816 and was returned in 1817, 1818, 1819 and 1820. He was nominated in
1826 as an independent candidate for congress against James Clark, the Dem-
ocratic nominee, and was elected. In 1828 he was re-elected without opposi-
tion, and was also elected in 1830 and 1832, latterly as the regular Democratic
nominee, the parties having been reorganized since he first entered congres-
sional life. He went to congress as the leader of his party in his county,
and because of tiis forensic talents and pronounced ability, very soon gained
an enviable standing in that body. The great question in congress then was
the re-charter of the United States Bank. Andrew Jackson was president and
brought all the power of his administration to bear to defeat its re-charter.
Coulter had the courage to oppose the president and to support the United
States Bank. This position lost him many friends in his district who were
stanch adherents of "Old Hickory." In 1834, therefore, John Klingensmith,
a plain man of German descent, was nominated for congress. He was re-
garded as a strong man in his district. Many of the voters were of German
extraction, and a man of their dialect and nationality, particularly if they
imagined him to, in some degree, resemble their idea of President Jackson,
as was the case with Klingensmith, would receive almost their solid vote.
Coulter was the opposing candidate, and it was hoped that by his eloquence
and personal popularity he could overcome this united opposition. But, though
he made a gallant fight, he was defeated by Klingensmith. A leading news-
paper at this time lamented his defeat in the following language :

"Poor Pennsylvania! She is the Boeotia of the Union; where else could such
a man as Richard Coulter have been defeated by such an unknown and illiterate
person as his antagonist?"

^ ^^kc^

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUXTV. 347

At the close of his last term in congress, in 1835. he resumed the practice
of the law in Greensburg, which had been somewhat neglected during the years-
he was in political life. He was then forty-seven years old, and for eleven
years was engaged exclusively in his profession. The bar was not, by any
means, a weak one in his day. John B. Alexander, the elder Foster and Beaver
were men who could give any bar a high standing. Coulter easily took rank
with these men. Alexander perhaps excelled him in his knowledge of the law,
and Foster was doubtless greater than he in the management of a case, but
in his address before a jury he easily surpassed either of them.

Mr. Cowan was then a young man, but in his latter years he said he re-
garded Coulter as the most eloquent and impressive jury lawyer who ever
practiced at the Westmoreland bar. His practice during these years was one
of the largest, if not the largest, at the bar, and if the reader imagines that he-
was an advocate alone he is sadly in error. He was the best educated man
of his day at the bar, and in his knowledge of the law he was excelled only
by the elder Foster and Alexander, and this is not by any means a discredit
to Coulter.

In 1846 a vacancy occurred on the supreme bench of the state, occasioned
by the death of Justice John Kennedy. The governor was urged by a petition
to appoint Richard Coulter to the position, the Westmoreland bar signing the
petition without regard to party. He was accordingly appointed justice of the
supreme court of Pennsylvania by Governor Francis R. Shunk, and took his
seat September i6th of that year. By virtue of this appointment, he filled the
office until the organic law was so changed in 1850 that all positions on the
bench were vacated and thereafter were to be filled by popular election. The
first election under the new law was in the fall of 185 1. The Democratic
nominees were John Bannister Gibson, Jeremiah S. Black, Ellis Lewis, Walter
H. Lowrie and James Campbell. Richard Coulter and four others were nomi-
nated by the Whigs. In the Democratic convention in 1851 Coulter received
support and the nomination by the Whig party was tendered him without
solicitation. At the fall election all of the Whig candidates were defeated
except Coulter, he defeating James Campbell by several thousand votes.
Campbell shortly afterwards became attorney general of Pennsylvania, and
later postmaster general under Franklin Pierce. Under a constitutional pro-
vision lots were drawn for length of term. Justice Black drew the short term
of three years, and thereby became chief justice of Pennsylvania. Lewis drew
the six. Gibson the nine, Lowrie the twelve and Coulter the fifteen year term.

Justice Coulter very early distinguished himself on the bench by an elab-
orate opinion in the case of Hummell vs Brown (6th Bar. p. 86). in which he,
with peculiar erudition, outlined the legislative power of the state in the coer-
cion and control of corporations. When this opinion was delivered, in 1847,
it was regarded by lawyers as one of the ablest and most eloquent opinions-
ever delivered from the supreme bench.

_348 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

He did not live long to fill the office to which he had been chosen, but died
in Greensburg April 20, 1852, his death being announced from the supreme
bench on JMay 11 following.

Justice Coulter was the only member of the Westmoreland bar who ever
reached the supreme bench. As a lawyer he took high rank on the bench, and
his decisions are yet valued and quoted by the profession. No man could take
first place on a bench that was adorned by John Bannister Gibson, but Coulter
was undoubtedly entitled to rank high after Gibson, and in one respect, viz. :
as a scholar outside of the law, he was superior to Gibson or any other man
on the bench.

His addresses in congress and elsewhere were not only elociuent, but charm-
ing in literary style and grace. His poetic temperament lent a richness and
beauty to his speech, while his logic and marshaling of facts made his argu-
ments almost irresistible. Though over fifty years have passed away since his
death, his fame as an orator still lives.

He was never married, but lived most of his life with his widowed mother
and a maiden sister.

We insert the inscription he wrote about 1826, as an epitaph for his
mother's tombstone, which loses nothing by being compared with Lord
Macauley's well-known tribute to his mother :

"The tears which sorrow sheds, the flowers that affection plants, and the monument
gratitude rears over the grave of a beloved parent soon pass away, but the deep memory
of maternal kindness, piety and virtue, survives over death and time, and will last while
the soul itself endures."

The Drum family was a very noted one in this county in the last century.
Augustus Drum was a grandson of Simon and a son of Simon Drum, Jr.,
the latter being well remembered in the early history of Greensburg as its
old-time postmaster, a position from which he was retired with the election of
W^illiam Henry Harrison in 1 840, after almost a lifetime of service. Among
other prominent men, he was on the funeral committee of Gen. Arthur St.
Clair in 1818.

Three of his sons became prominent. Simon H. Drum was a graduate
from West Point in the class of 1830 and was killed at Garita De Belen, in the
Mexican war, September 13, 1847. Richard Coulter Drum, his youngest son,
was also in the JNIexican war, and afterwards, by gradual promotions, reached
. the position of adjutant general of the United States army. He was the only
man in our country's history who filled that position who had not been edu-
cated at West Point.

Augustus Drum was the sixth son, born in Greensburg November 26,
181 5, and was educated at Jefferson College. He read law with Alexander W.
Foster and was admitted to the bar in May, 1836. He was a man of medium
height and build, with brown hair and blue eyes. Not long after his admission

^hjii

^ y I Jo-^ c^ Ca^

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 349,

to the bar he was married to Isabel, a daughter of Daniel Stannard, of Indiana,
Pennsylvania, and for many years, after the prevalent custom of that day,
practiced in both Indiana and Westmoreland counties. - In Indiana he was a
politician and leader of the Democratic party, but in Greensburg was mostly
renowned as a lawyer and excelled in his addresses before a jury. He was the
same age as Cowan and Burrell, and in his profession advanced so rapidly that
at the age of forty he easily ranked with the first lawyers of the bar.

Late in the forties he represented his district in the state senate of Penn-
sylvania. In 1852 he was the candidate of the Democratic party for congress
and was elected after a spirited contest over a number of opponents. A song
was improvised and sung widely by his friends, with a stanza for each oppo-
nent. The last of each division was :

"He'll be left at home because he can't beat a Drum."

Mr. Drum made himself heard in congress, but unfortunately he introduced'
an amendment relative to the questions involved in the Wilmot Proviso, and^
this made him many enemies among the rapidly increasing Abolition element
of his district. In 1854 he was a candidate for re-election, but the Know-Noth-
ing party had already gained great strength, and when they united with the
Whigs they accomplished his defeat. John Covode was elected over him and
commenced his long and notable career in congress.

At the close of his term in congress, in 1855, he returned to Greensburg
and devoted himself exclusively to the practice of the law. In 1857 he built
a residence on South j\Iain street, now owned by the heirs of James C. Clark,
but he had scarcely completed it until he was taken ill and died in 1858, in
the forty-third year of his age.

John Young Barclay, a riephew and namesake of Judge John Young, was
born in Bedford county on November 29, 1798. About 18 17 he came to
Greensburg to read law with his uncle, and was admitted to the bar in the
November term, 1819. He was a man of large frame, being about six feet
high, strongly built and of a fair complexion. He devoted himself entirely to
the practice of nis profession. He rode from one county to another in com-
pany with the judge and the more prominent lawyers, after the fashion of
the olden time, and soon acquired a good practice in each county of the Tenth
judicial district. He was a member of the constitutional convention which
framed the Pennsylvania constitution of 1838, but further than this he never
sought or obtained office. He was a Mason in Anti-Masonic times, a Democrat
and a stanch supporter of Andrew Jackson ; yet, notwithstanding this, he
supported Thaddeus Stevens and Governor George Wolf in their heroic
efforts to establish the common-school system of Pennsylvania, a measure with
which their names must ever be closely connected. For this Mr. Barclav was
violently opposed, the opposition even threatening to mob him, but nothing
daunted, he still advocated the cause of the common schools and lived to see
his ideas triumph.

350

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

He was married to Isabella, a daughter of Alexander Johnston, of "Kings-
ton House," a sister of Governor William F. Johnston. All his life he was
fond of athletic sports, outdoor life and horseback riding, and this fondness
perhaps led him to his early death. In 1841, when he was but forty-three
years of age, he v.fas thrown from a horse and received an injury from which
he died the day following, February 18. He left a large family, one of his
daughters, Elizabeth, being married to Gen. James Keenan ; his son, Thomas
J,, became eminent in the financial circles of the county.

Thomas Johnston Barclay was the eldest son of John Y. Barclay. He was
much more widely known in his latter years as a financier than as a member of
the bar, though be.'Dre he became a banker he won his spurs in the legal profes-
sion. He was born in Greensburg on January 23, 1826, and was educated at
Jefferson College. He read law with his uncle, Governor William F. John-
ston, and with Henry D. Foster. He was admitted to the bar in August,
1844, in his nineteenth year, and for eight years devoted himself exclusively
to the practice of the law, barring the time spent in the Mexican war. In
November following his admission he was appointed district attorney by Gov-
ernor David R. Porter and held this position for some years. He, like his
iather, was a man of six feet three inches high, with a rugged constitution.

When the war with Mexico came he enlisted as second sergeant under
Captain, afterwards Colonel, John W. Johnston, late of "Kingston House,"
in the Second Pennsylvania regiment, and was promoted to the first lieutenancy'
December 31, 1847. He participated in the battles of Molino del Rev, Chapul-
tepec, Vera Cruz, the storming of Mexico, etc. At the close of the war he
returned to Westmoreland county and resumed the practice of the law.

In 1852 he was elected treasurer of Westmoreland county for two years,
and this practically closed his professional life. lu 1854 he began the banking
business in Greensburg, and was closely engaged in it for the rest of his life.
In this he achieved great success. He is easily entitled to rank as the first
financier of his day in the county, and indeed as one of the leading bankers of
Western Pennsylvania. He was a man of deep thought, few words and little
•display or public demonstration. So unerring was his judgment that his ad-
vice on all manner of business propositions was sought and followed more than
that of any other man of his day in the county. Even in politics, to which, like
his father, he apparently paid but little attention, his counsel was always sought
and he was always a potent factor in the Democratic campaigns. In 1854
he was married to Rebecca, a daughter of Hon. Joseph H. Kuhns. He died
suddenly, after a few days' illness, on August 25, 1881. He was the father
■of Thomas Barclay, of the present bar.

It is difficult in the narrow limits of an article of this kind to do justice to
the man who attained the eminence of Henry D. Foster. He was born in
Mercer county, Pennsylvania, December 19, 1808, and was descended from a
'Scotch, English and Dutch ancestry. He was a grandson of Rev. William

r.

M. /^_ ./.

7

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 351

Foster and a son of Samuel B. Foster, who was married to Elizabeth Donnell.
a daughter of Judge Donnell, of Northumberland county. Their son, Henry
Donnell Foster, received his early education in Allegheny College, Meadville,
Pennsylvania, and came to Greensburg in 1826 to study law in the office of
Alexander W. Foster, his uncle, who has been herein previously written of.

He pursued his studies under his uncle's instruction and was admitted
to practice law in Westmoreland county on August 26, 1829. Before his
admission to the bar he was examined by John B. Alexander, R. B. AlcCabe
and Joseph H. Kuhns. Mr. Foster's ability as a lawyer was recognized even
in his youth. He was thoroughly devoted to his profession. Nature gave him
eminently a legal mind, and this combined with his unerring judgment on the
trial of a suit made him a most formidable opponent. From his early years at
the bar he was without taste for criminal business, and when so engaged he
invariably took the side of the defense. His power over a jury was considered
phenomenal, and there were but few who could successfully oppose him. He
had all his life an extensive practice and might have died independently
wealthy but for his extreme liberality to the needy and to his friends.

Many stories are told concerning this characteristic in the life of Mr.
Foster, and it may not be out of place to give one or two of them :

One day a political friend, a tailor, went hastily into his office and asked
him for the loan of ten dollars. Mr. Foster handed it to him without more
than looking at him. A few days afterwards the tailor called and said :
"General, I want to pay you the money I owe you." "Why," said the
General, "you don't owe me anything." "Oh, yes," said he,' "I borrowed
money from you here one dav and I wish to repay it." "Oh, yes," said the
General, "I believe you did borrow a hundred dollars from me." "No," said
the tailor, "it was not a hundred, but only ten, and here it is." The General
took it and thanked him kindly.

At another time a young member of the bar was burned out by a lire
and lost his library. Thinking that assistance would stand him in good stead
a number of Greensburg people circulated a subscription paper to purchase
him a new library. In the morning two young men called on General Foster
and explained to him the nature of their mission, when Mr. Foster very kindly
subscribed and paid ten dollars. In the afternoon two other members of the
committee, not knowing that the first members had called on the General,
visited him. The General said they were doing exactly right and that the
}oung man should be helped, whereupon he subscribed and paid fifteen dollars.
Later, when it became known that General Foster had twice subscribed in
this way, one of the subscriptions was returned to him.

When Judge Buffington was ready to retire from the bench because his
life's work was done, he said that Henry D. Foster was the strongest and
consequently the most dangerous man when, on the wrong side of a case, who
ever appeared before him. Justice Gibson and Henry D. Foster and Judge

35^

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

Thompson were for many years regarded as three of the strongest men at the
Pennsylvania bar, and Justice Gibson himself has been heard to say frequently
that he regarded j\Ir. Foster as the greatest land lawyer in Pennsylvania.

He was a Jacksonian Democrat even as far back as 1828. He was three
times elected to congress and twice defeated, being elected in 1842 and 1844
and for the last time in 1870. He was defeated in 1866 and again in 186S,
when the returns showed a majority in his favor, but the seat was contested
by Covode, his opponent, which contest was decided against Mr. Foster. In
i860, when he was paying no attention whatever to politics, the Democratic
state convention met in Lancaster. After balloting several times without
nominating any one, the name of Foster was sprung on the convention and he
was nominated for governor. It was during this contest that he had his cele-
brated controversy with Stephen A. Douglas, who pressed Foster, against his
own views, to take sides against Breckinridge, which Foster refused to do.
He was defeated for the governorship, for Pennsylvania went Republican in
that year and later cast her vote for Abraham Lincoln. Andrew Curtin was
elected governor.

Concerning Foster's unlooked-for nomination for governor in i860, Air.
Bales McCo.lley, of Ligonier, relates a remarkable incident ; all the more re-
markable it is when it is remembered that our politicians were very careful
in those days of small majorities to select strong candidates for governor, and
that the Democratic party had been in the ascendancy for many years in Penn-
sylvania. I\Ir. AlcColley, who was then prothonotary of the county, was
closeted with General Foster in the back room of the prothonotary's office in
the old court house, engaged in a private conversation, neither of them thinking
about the governorship. Some boys passed down Main street yelling "Hurrah
for Foster." Little attention was paid to this until again and again the cry
"Foster for Governor" was repeated. By this time Mr. McColley's suspicions
were aroused, and he asked the General what it meant. Foster replied uncon-
cernedly that it was merely the foolishness of some thoughtless boys. But the
cry became general, and when, much against Foster's desire, an investigation
was made, they found hundreds of citizens in the street hunting for Foster,
to congratulate him, for the news of his nomination for the governorship had
just reached Greensburg. Everyone in his home town was delighted with the
nomination, save Foster himself; he had no ambition to be governor.

While in congress he made some very remarkable speeches. In 1846 he
was warmly congratulated by a no less distinguished man than John Quincy
Adams, "The Old Man Eloquent," who made the remark that Foster was
the coming man. In the tarifif debates of the day, if one will search the Con-
gressional Globe, he will find that Mr. Foster left a verv enviable record. In
one bold and convincing argument made against Holmes, of South Carolina,
where the duty on railroad iron was at stake, he has left us a masterpiece both
of close reasoning and logical deduction ; and he demonstrated that he himself

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 353

was thoroughly alive to the great importance of the iron industries of Penn-
sylvania. The tarift of 1842, which was a very highly protective one, it will
be remembered, was then under discussion.

Mr. Foster was frequently offered positions on the supreme bench of
Pennsvlvania, but always declined them. His only ambition, if indeed he had
an ambition outside of professional life, was to become United States senator.
He was supported for this office by his wing of the Democracy, but was de-
feated in the end by Simon Cameron, who was, however, always one of his
greatest admirers.

^It. Foster was r. man universally loved and respected. His manners were
gentle and attractive and this made him a host of friends wherever he went.
In personal appearance he was of medium height. In his youth he had dark
hair, but this turned gray and white in his declining years. His nose was
aquiline, his eyes were a light blue, his forehead high and commanding, and
though comparatively a small man, he had a "high and lofty mien."

If anv one at the Westmoreland bar now competent to give an opinion
on the question, were asked who was the greatest lawyer in the second half
of the century just passed, he would doubtless hesitate whether he should name
Henry D. Foster or Edgar Cowan. Both of them for many years stood not
only at the head of the Westmoreland bar, but were ranked throughout the
commonwealth as the very leading lawyers in the state. As may be supposed,
they were nearly always pitted against each other in the important trials of
their day. Foster was undoubtedly more resourceful than Cowan in the trial
of a weak case ; but, on the other hand, the latter possessed some elements of
strength which the former lacked. Take them all in all they were marvelously
equally matched, and since their death there have been no rivals to their fame
in the Westmoreland bar. Foster cross-examined very little, paying apparently
no attention to the testimony unless he thought the witness mistaken or wil-
fully perverting or concealing the truth. Usually he sat with his head down
during a trial, until the vital point, or mayhap, a weak place of his case, which
he saw with unerring certainty from the beginning, was touched by his oppo-
nent. Then it wrs that his fiery nature was aroused, and the spectator saw
him come like a warring eagle to the rescue of his endangered position.

Air. F"oster died on October 16, 1880, in the seventy-second year of his
age. Xo man's death for many years in this part of the state called forth
such unstinted expressions of sorrow. He was not only a great lawyer, but
was singularly fortunate in the possession of the esteem and love of the entire
community.

Senator Edgar Cowan was the most distinguished lawyer Westmoreland
county ever produced. He was the only member of the bar who ever suc-
ceeded in being elected to the United States senate. It is peculiar, too, that he
filled during his long and eventful life, but two offices : one was that of school
director in Greensburg and the other was that of United States senator.

23

354 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

He was descended from a Scotch-Irish stock of intellectually and physically
strong men. Hugh Cowan settled in Chester county in 1720. His son, Wil-
liam Cowan, grandfather of Edgar Cowan, was born in 1749, and was a cap-
tain in the Revolutionary war. He was a very large man in stature, vigorous
in intellectual power and an acknowledged leader in his community. Both
Edgar Cowan's paternal and maternal ancestors were prominent in their day
and both his grandfathers were in the Revolutionary war.

Mr. Cowan was born in Sewickley township, September 19, 1815. He was
brought up bv his grandfather. At an early age he tailght school, worked on
the Youghiogheny river as a keel boatman and for a time worked at the car-
penter trade. In 1838 he entered Franklin College at New Athens, Ohio, where
he was graduated in 1839, being the valedictorian of his class. He returned
to Westmoreland county and read law with Henry D. Foster. Shortly after
his admission in February, 1842, he became associated with John F. Beaver,
whose office fixtures and practice were purchased by ]\Ir. Cowan when the
former moved "to Ohio.

Nature had indeed been kind to him. She gave him a magnificent form,
he being six feet four inches high, with most classically chiseled features, an
intellect perhaps more acute than that of any other man who ever belonged
to the Westmoreland bar. and a voice that could roll and thunder like the
peal of a great organ ; and in addition to this she endowed him with a ready
wit which alone was sufficient to render him noted among his fellows. With
all these marvelous powers one need not be surprised that he very rapidly
attained a foremost rank at the bar. His practice for years was the largest
in Greensburg. If one will take the pains to examine the continuance dockets
between 1850 and i860, he will see that Mr. Cowan either tried or was con-
nected with two-thirds of the cases, both great and small, in all these years.
During this period he did not purchase property, but books, and read them.

It may be well to state here that he was scarcely more scholarly in the law
than in science, history, philosophy, poetry and the classics. He was a great
reader all his life ; he had a most retentive memory and could at any moment
recall and give utterance to any thought which he had mastered in former
vears. In 1861 he was elected to the United States Senate by the legislature
of Pennsylvania. It will hardly be understood at this day how a man without
the influences which wealth can bring, without the power of political leadership
and coming from a backwoods county, could be elected to this high position
over the Pittsburgh and Philadelphia candidates. Before this he had been
little known in politics except as a stump speaker. He was originally a Jackso-
nian Democrat, in 1840 became a Whig, and in 1856 was strong in his
advocacy of the election of John C. Fremont. He had also been a presidential
elector in i860 on the Republican ticket.

When he entered the United States senate, secession, the great question
which had been bubbling and bursting forth in congress for thirty years, had

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 355

Tiow fully exploded and was before the American people for settlement. It could
not be otherwise than that a man of Mr. Cowan's attainments, strength of
character and native ability would take a high rank even in so learned a body
as the United States senate. Very early after his entry upon the duties of his
office he laid down certain rules which were to govern him in all his actions in
the senate. One of the rules was as follows :

That the war being made to suppress the rebellion and not to make a con-
quest of the Confederate states, therefore as soon as the southern states sub-
mitted they should resume their former functions in the Union.

With this principle in view he voted aganst the confiscation bill and opposed
the policy of the Republican party as to reconstruction. And there is little
doubt now that his policy of reconstruction much more nearly resembled the
ideas of President Lincoln than the one adopted by the ruling party. Lincoln's
talk with Stephens and Toombs at the Hampton Roads conference and his letter
to Governor Vance, both prove this. Both Lincoln and Cowan undoubtedly
wanted to "bury the hatchet" at once when the war was closed.

It had been usual for new senators to remain quiet for a session or two
and learn something of the methods of conducting business before taking part
in debate. Not so with Mr. Cowan. He dashed into debate on legal ques-
tions in the very first session. As a lawyer he took high rank at once with
such men as Collamer, Browning, the elder Bayard, Trumbull and Fessenden.
He measured swords with the ablest lawyers of the senate, and there is no
reliance to be put in human opinion if he did not hold his own in every
contest.

Governor Hendricks said of him in his second year in the senate that "he
was a dashing debater : came into any controversy when it was at its highest,
and was able to maintain himself against much odds." A very good descrip-
tion of Mr. Cowan is given by the poet, Nathaniel P. Willis, in the Home
Journal, from which we quote:

"The drive to Hall's Hill was exceedingly beautiful, like an excursion in early Oc-
tober, but made mainly interesting to me, however, by the company of the elegant senator
who share'd our carriage, Mr. Cowan, of Pennsylvania. He is the finest specimen of
humanity I have ever seen for brilliancy and learning. * * * Qf his powerfully pro-
portioned frame and fine chiseled face, the senator seemed as naturally unconscious as of
his singular readiness and universal erudition. He comes from the western part of Penn-
sylvania and passed his early life as half huntsman, half schoolmaster— and later became
a lawyer. His speech on this occasion for the flags, very flowing and fine, has been
reported at length in the papers. It was most stirring to watch the faces of the men as
•they looked on and listened to him. I realized what eloquence might do in the inspiring
of pluck for the battle."

From the "Dobbs Family in America," a novel published in 1864 by Max-
well & Company in London, written by Albert Rhodes, page 197, is found
this description :

356 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

"That tall, fine looking gentleman with keen gray eyes and acquiline nose is
Edgar Cowan, of Pennsylvania. It is generally conceded, even among his enem-
ies, that he is the most talented man who ever came to Congress from that state.
He came up from the common people. At an early age he was thrown upon
his own resources and by his indomitable will and talents mounted to his present
position. He is the fullest man in this chamber. Although his specialty is the
law, it would be difficult to name a science that he is not more or less acquainted
with. Nothing delights him more than to tackle with men 'f science who are
able to throw the ball with him; then the riches of his well-stored mind are dis-
played in profusion. Let the subject be what it may, he always touches the bot-
tom. In speaking, as soon as he is fully aroused, his words roll out in well
rounded sentences. His voice is full and deep, and when he chooses to employ it,
has more volume than that of any other senator here. His style in one point, that
of classic illustrations, is not unlike Senator Sumner's of Boston. Cowan is prac-
tical and argumentative in his speeches, a wrangler by profession, and is as brave
as Julius Caesar. Both Cowan and Sumner are fond of tradition and classic lore
and here they meet on common ground."

George Augusta Sala wrote of him in the London Times, as "the ablest
Shakespearian scholar in the United States Congress." Daniel Daugherty
spoke of him in 1880 as "the most scholarly and learned man among living
Pennsylvanians." All this induced Senator Trumbull to say that Cowan knew
more useless things than any man he ever met.

It may be supposed that the public utterances of a man of such varied intel-
lectual accornplishments would be beyond the mind of the ordinary hearer. The
fact was exactly the opposite. Mr. Cowan was, above all things, essentially
a trained lawyer, and as such he surpassed himself in everything else m his
ability to state the principles of his case and in doing so to adapt his language
and reasoning to the mind of the hearer. This power of statement he had in
such a marked degree that the hearer could not misunderstand if he tried, and
therein lay his greatest strength as a lawyer. As an illustration of his Anglo-
Saxon language the following incident is remembered :

In the early eighties he delivered one afternoon an address to a jurv occupy-
ing about an hour and a half. In the. evening one of the jurors, a level-headed,
hard working, rugged minded man, of but little education, came to the writer
and said to him : "Who was that big man who addressed us this afternoon ?"
When told that it was Senator Cowan he said : "I suppose he is a very igno-
rant man." Not wishing to disabuse his mind too suddenly, he was told that
Mr. Cowan was regarded as rather bright, and asked him why he doubted his
education. "Because," said he, "he talked all afternoon to us and did not use
any big words and I supposed that, being ignorant, he did not know any
to use." I\Ir. Cowan regarded this as one of the highest compliments which
could be paid to him.

Mr. Cowan's rural nativity colored his whole life. He loved nature, the

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 357

singing birds, the trees and the wild flowers. By nature he was a philosopher.
His examination of law students generally developed into a delightful talk
on the causes and effects of the natural phenomena surrounding them. He
invested his money in lands rather than in stocks, bonds, etc.

In his law practice his natural predilection was to favor the weak rather
than the strong", and he generally appeared for the individual as against the
corporation. In the senate he raised his strong arm against syndicates, rings
and combinations.

One morning when quite infirm with age he was pressing before Judge
Hunter the case of a poor widow, convicted of selling a few glasses of beer
without a license. She had a large family and he asked the court to suspend
sentence, to send her home to her children with the admonition that she sell
no more liquor. The judge, with a quizzical smile, said: "Have you any
cases, anything to cite to sustain your position, Senator?" "Oh, yes. your
honor, I have," said Mr. Cowan. "I refer you to a Judge whose opinions are
clearer than Gibson's ; whose law is more enduring than that of Lycur-
gus, and from whose judgment no one to this day has successfully ap-
pealed ; a Judge who, when He had before Him a woman charged with a
serious oft'ense, and guilty, too, like this woman, had the courage and the
kindness to send her forth with the injunction 'Go thy way and sin no more.'"

On one occasion a client was paying him a fee for services rendered and,
by a good deal of haggling, beat him down from one hundred to fifty dollars.
In writing the receipt he wrote it without capital letters, using small letters in
beginning each part of the client's name. When remonstrated with by the
client he said that a man who was small enough to beat a lawyer down to such
a fee for such services should always have his name written in that way, and
that this was the best he could write for so small a fee.

At another time a wealthy but very economical client called to have
him draw his will, devising many thousands to different relatives, etc., and
asked him what he would charge. Mr. Cowan told him he would charge one
hundred dollars. The client thought this very excessive and said he could get
a will written by a justice of the peace for one dollar. "Very well," said Mr.
Cowan, "but remember if you get a will written by a justice of the peace, and
I live longer than you do, I will make a good deal more than a hundred dollars
out of your estate." The record shows that a cheap, defective will was written,
that Mr. Cowan sustained it in a long contest and received a fee of nearly a
thousand dollars.

Xot being in accord with the predominant party in Pennsylvania, he was
not returned to the senate. In 1867, therefore, he returned to Greensburg
and for many years again divided with General Foster the honors of leadership
of the bar, appearing in nearly all the important trials and seemingly as forceful
as in his former years. Early in the eighties, his eyesight failing, he retired
gradually from the duties of his profession. This he did willingly, too, for he

358 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

realized tliat his life as a lawyer had been a success, that he had grasped its.
greatest honors, and that there might yet remain for him a few years of ease
which a life of unusual industry had warranted and made possible. In 1883
and 1884 his days were spent mostly in hearing his son read to him, in looking
after his estate and in a quasi social life, well becoming an elderly gentleman of
his disposition and attainments. His natural strength was such that his days
should have been prolonged to four-score years and more. But late in 1884
a most malignant cancer developed in his mouth. It grew rapidly and was
attended with excr: dating pain. Gradually he wasted away and on August
31, 1885, his last battle was fought, his race was run, his eyes were closed
and his eloquent tongue was stilled in death.

Edward Johnston Keenan was a son of James Keenan and a younger
brother of General James Keenan. He was born in Youngstown, Pennsylva-
nia, April 3, 1834, and was educated at Greensburg. He read law with H. C.
:\Iarchand, Esq., and was admitted to the Westmoreland bar in 1863. Prior
to this, when about sixteen years of age, he accompanied his older brother,
Thomas J. Keenan, late of Pittsburgh, to Europe and spent nearly a year in
England. Of his foreign experiences and observations he furnished many in-
teresting and amusing sketches, for his mind was peculiarly acute in noticing
and depicting the incongruous and humorous side of life.

At the age of eighteen he was editor of the Greensburg Democrat and after-
wards served a term as register and recorder of his county, having previously
conducted the office while his brother James was the incumbent. When the
Civil war came he entered as first lieutenant of infantry in the Eleventh Penn-
sylvania Reserves, from which he was transferred to the Signal Corps and
afterward promoted to higher positions.

When he returned from the war he began the practice of the law and very
soon stood foremost among the younger members of the profession in Greens-
burg. His strong points as a lawyer were his wide information and culture,
his ingenuity in escaping impending disaster and his unrivaled humor. These
qualities enabled him to build up a large practice. "Admit nothing and demand
proof" was his oft quoted maxim in the trial of a case.

From the first he stood high in the councils of Democracy and was several
times coiuity chairman of his party. Later he was deputy state chairman of
Western Pennsylvania, embracing some twenty counties. Mr. Keenan waged
many fierce political battles with Hon. John Covode, then a member of con-
gress, but aside from politics, they were on intimate terms. His political
articles are even to-day fresh and pungent.

In the early seventies he was editing the Greensburg Democrat in addition
to practicing law. Each week he was publishing a chapter of a serial story,
the scene of which was laid in England. The story had a great iiiany charac-
ters and as the fall campaign advanced he found that but half of it had been
published, and that he very greatly needed the room in his paper for political

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 359

matter. So the ingenious lawyer wrote a chanter or two of his own and sub-
stituted them as part of the real story. In th*e he implanted the colony idea
among the characters, all of whom' were easily induced by his magic mind
to emigrate to America. They, strange to say, all sailed from Liverpool in
a single vessel, and when in mid-ocean he made them encounter a severe storm
which sunk the ship and all on board were lost. Thus the story ended and the
resourceful editor had abundant space in his paper for political news. He died
June I, 1877, aged forty-three years.

Andrew JM. Fulton, born September 9, 1828, was admitted to the bar in
i860. He was a descendant of an old and noted line of Seceders, or United
Presbyterians, being a son of Andrew and a grandson of John Fulton.
Though he did not live to become an eminent lawyer, he had a few qualities
which a sketch of the Westmoreland bar would be incomplete without. Prob-
ably his most remarkable quality was his ready wit. He had been an intimate
friend and companion of Judge Logan before the judge was elected to the
bench. On one occasion during local option times, when good liquor was ex-
tremely rare and difficult to procure, Air. Fulton was supplying his friends
with a choice brand which, he had in his office, and among his friends was
Judge Logan. After sampling the liquor and all praising it. Judge Logan
inadvertently asked: "Where did you get this, Air. Fulton?" Fulton did not
reply, but when questioned a second time as to where he had gotten it, he
turned his grave face towards the judge and said : "Judge, if any one asks
you where I got this just tell them that you don't know." At another time
he w^as pressing a matter before Judge' Logan on the bench, which had not
been properly brought forth by the testimony and which the judge held was
not therefore before him for consideration. Though he told the lawyer this,
Mr. Fulton still persisted in arguing his favorite point, whereupon the judge
said to him very emphaticallv :

"Air. Fulton, the court knows nothing — " but before he could finish the
sentence the ready wit replied: "I know, your honor, that the court knows
nothing, but I am about to tell it something." This joke on the judge has been
long remembered and was highly appreciated by all who heard it, and by none
more than by Judge Logan himself.

Neither Air. Fulton nor Judge Logan must, however, be considered as
men who were intemperate, though both, we doubt not, like many other promi-
nent members of the Westmoreland bar, appreciated a taste of fine liquor.
Air. Fulton was a member of the legislature in 1870-71, and was also the repre-
sentative of Westn.oreland county in the constitutional convention which met
in 1873 to formulate the constitution by which Pennsylvania has since been
governed. He was, moreover, one of the ablest members of that convention.
Unfortunately for him he was taken sick in the spring of 1878 and died after a
Ijrief illness, on April 3.

The Alarchand f mily was indeed a very noted familv in the bar of West-

36o HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

moreland county. They were of Huguenot descent and were sons, and the
latter a grandson, of Dr. David Marchand, who represented this district in
congress in 1816 and 1818.

Albert G. Marchand was the first one of the family who became a member
of the bar. When he was quite a young man his father. Dr. David Marchand,
was elected prothonotary of Westmoreland county, and while he was assisting
his father in conducting this office he read law with John B. Alexander and
was admitted to the bar in 1833. He was a man of stout build, dark complex-
ion, dark hair and eyes, and in his day was an advocate of marked ability before
a jury or court. He devoted himself entirely to the legal profession until 1838.
That year, when he was but twenty-seven 3'ears of age, he was elected to
congress, representing the counties of Westmoreland and Indiana. When
he took his seat in the Twenty-sixth congress he was the youngest member of
that body, except one. He was re-elected in 1840 and then declined- to serve
his constituents further in this capacity. He was born February 26, 181 1.

In the latter part of 1847 he was afflicted with a disease which rapidly
undermined his constitution, but did not make itself known until a few months
before his death. He died on February 5, 1848, aged thirty-seven years. His
loss was deeply felt because of his ability, his high character and his promis-
ing life.

Henry Clay Marchand was a brother of Albert G. Marchand and was born
March 9, 1819. He read law with his brother, was admitted to the bar in
May, 1840, and at once became a partner of his brother. This partnership
continued until his brother's death in 1848. Henry C. Marchand practiced law
in Greensburg for forty-one years. He was a man of high character, thor-
oughly devoted to his profession, and for many years before his death was
easily ranked among the foremost men of the bar. He was not a man of
outward show, but a man of solid worth. The leading characteristics of Mr.
Marchand were the soundness of his judgment, his sincerity, his caution and
his industry. "Let us examine it again out of abundant caution," was one of
his oft-repeated suggestions.

He made no claim to forensic display, but argued cases well before a jury
and very well before the court. His chief power lay in a special ability to
prepare and arrange to the best advantage all the details useful in the trial of
a case, and to select with skill and discretion the authorities bearing upon the
question at hand. In this sphere of professional life he had no superior in
Westmoreland county ; and it will be remembered that he came in contact with
men like Foster, Cowan and Laird almost daily in his practice of the law, and
that the weightiest natters were entrusted to him.

For many years he was chief solicitor for the Pennsylvania Railroad Com-
pany in Westmoreland county and had a large corporation business in addition.
He practiced law alone from 1848, when his partner and brother died, until
1864, when his nephew, John A. Marchand, was admitted to the bar and

HISTORY or WESTMORELAXD COUNTY. 361

became his junior partner. He was a Presbyterian in religion and lived a most
exemplary life. He died March 9, 1882.

John A. Marchand was the son of Albert Gallatin iMarchand, and was born
in Greensburg June 8, 1842. He was educated in Washington College, and in
1862 began to read law with his uncle, Henry C. Marchand, and was admitted
to the bar in May. 1864. He was a thorough-going, painstaking lawyer like
his uncle and father had been before him. He was essentially an ofHce lawyer,
caring little for the business of the courts. He excelled in the preparation of
papers and in directing the management of business affairs. He was a man of
high social qualities.

In 1869 he was appointed a register in bankruptcy by Chief Justice Chase
for the counties of Westmoreland, . Indiana and Fayette, a position which he
filled with grace and dignity until the repeal of the bankrupt law in 1878. He
assisted his uncle and partner as solicitor for the Pennsylvania Railroad Com-
pany, and was closely associated with him in all of the business of the firm. He,
too, was a 'most painstaking and exact lawyer.

He was married October 5, 1868, to Mary Todd, a daughter of David Todd
and granddaughter of Judge James Todd, who was attorney general of the
commonwealth under Governor Ritner, and a native of Philadelphia.

Like his uncle, he paid very little attention to politics, but gave his closest
attention to professional business. He had, however, been chief burgess of his
native town and was president of the !\Ierchants' and Farmers' Bank. He was
an Episcopalian in religion and one of the highest IMasons in the United States.
He died August 5, 1896.

Archibald A. Stewart was born in Indiana county on ]\Iarch 3, 1833, ^-ud
died suddenly in Greensburg on July 3, 1881. He was of Irish ancestry, and
-was graduated from Jefferson College in 1854, after which he came to West-
moreland county to read law with Hon. Henry D. Foster. In 1856 he^was
adiuitted to the bar, and continued to practice his profession until his death.
He was twice elected to the office of district attorney, and filled the position
Avith good ability.

Mr. Stewart was a generous-hearted man, generous even to a fault. It
mattered little to him whether his client had money to pay for his services
or not. He took their cases and gave in return his best eii'orts. There is no
■doubt whatever but that between the years of 1865 and 1880 he tried more
cases, particularly in the quarter sessions, than any other member of the bar.
This alone was sufficient to make him very popular in the county, but in addi-
tion to this he was a man of an open, friendly disposition. He was an uncom-
promising Democrat. In 1879 he won the nomination for judgeship easily
o\'er competitors, any one of whom was much better fitted for the position
than he. His following in Westmoreland was immense, but he was defeated
an the fall bv Judge Hunter and we believe, unfortunatelv, never recovered

362 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

from this backset. He was a man of strong build, strong constitution and
strong personality.

But few men have brought with them to the bar as much native legal intel-
lect as William ^1. Given. He was the son of Robert Given, better known as
Judge Given, one of the old time associate judges of Westmoreland county.
He began life as a school teacher, and with but little preliminary education
read law with Henry D. Foster, and was admitted to the bar in May, 1862,
when twenty-two years old.

He was a man of very fine physique, had bright, dark piercing eyes, a clear
musical voice, and a very marked command of language. Indeed, his style
of expression was at once so elegant and forceful that his every utterance
apparently bore the weight of a judicial decree. These qualities enabled him
to take a high rank even in his first years at the bar. As an advocate he had
few eq«als.

Associated with Governor Latta. he was engaged to prosecute in the cele-
brated Drum case, in which a young man bf good family named William Drum
was tried for the murder in a street fight of a youth of meager intellect named
David JMohigan. Judge Buffington certified disqualification in the case, be-
cause of the relationship between his family and that of the defendant. The
supreme court of the state appointed one of their number, Justice Agnew, to
sit specially in the regular session of the oyer and terminer court of West-
moreland county to hear the case. The trial took place in November, 186S,
when Mr. Given was but twenty-eight years old. Arrayed against him in
defense of Drum was the flower of the Westmoreland bar, namely, Keenan,
Hunter, Cowan and Foster. The management of the case was superior
throughout, and Mr. Given's address to the jury was one of the finest ever
delivered in our courts. Xo one who was fortunate enough to hear it ever
forgot its magnetic effect upon the jury and the audience. The case became
a ruling one in Pennsylvania criminal law, and is reported at length in Xo.
58, Pa. St., p. I.

Later he acquitted himself with equal credit as defendant's counsel in the
trial of Hull, who was indicted for the murder of a railroad conductor named
Parker. His strength did not lie, by any means, however, in the criminal
courts. He was a lawyer of broad mind and great strength in every matter
which engaged his attention. Unfortunately, he did not live to be old, but
died suddenly of heart disease in 1882.

William A. Stokes, born in 1814, was one of the ablest members of the
bar between 1850 and 1870. He came to Greensburg from Philadelphia when
about forty years of age, having won a very prominent place at the bar in that
city before coming here. He was sent here by the Pennsylvania Railroad Com-
pany to look after its interests, which railroad was completed to Greensburg
in 1852. He purchased a fine farm north of Greensburg, now known as Seton
Hill, and there lived in affluence.

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUXTY. 365.

From the verv first he took his place at the bar side by side with men Uke
Foster and Cowan, and whilst he was not as great a lawyer as either of these
men, in one respect, that is in the strength of his oratory, he was a man of won-
derful power. He was a tall, slender man, with dark piercing eyes, and one-
upon whom nature had bestowed many gifts. In public addresses, of which
he made a great many, he had scarcely an equal in Western Pennsylvania. He
was also an editor of the Grccnsbiirg Republican for some time. Shortly after
the breaking out of the rebellion he enlisted in the service, taking out a com-
jwny. Later he was promoted to the office of major. Sometime after the war
was over he returned to Philadelphia, where he lived in retirement and died
April 3, 1877.

James J. Hazlett was born in Indiana county and read law with Henry D.
Foster, being admitted to the bar in 1864. For many years he practiced law
in the Cowan building, he having been married to Senator Cowan's only daugh-
ter Elizabeth. Afterwards a partnership was formed with Mr. V. E. Will-
iams, and the firm became a leading one at the bar. ;\Ir. Hazlett was a man of
much energy, and a graduate of Washington and Jefferson College in the class
of i860. Had he lived to round out his full measure of years, he would un-
doubtedly have become a shining light at the bar. He died after a brief illness-
in 1887, aged forty-eight years.

James R. McAfee, editor and lawyer, was born in Allegheny county oni
March 10, 1822, and was a son of John and ^lary Thompson ]\IcAfee. who
were of Irish extraction. Mr. McAfee was a school teacher in the fifties, and
from 1857 until i860 was superintendent of the common schools of Westmore-
land county. After filling the duties of this office he studied law with Hon.
James A. Hunter and was admitted to the bar in 1866. He filled various
offices — assistant revenue assessor, deputy secretary of the commonwealth^
from 1879 to 1883, etc. In 1870 he founded the Grecnsburg Tribune, and two-
years later consolidated it with the Grecnsburg Herald, making what is now
known as the Tribune-Herald. He gave most of his attention to these voca-
tions rather than to the practice of the law. He died April 29, 1890.

Joseph H. Kuhns was born in September, 1800. and was graduated from
Washington college in 1820. He read law with ^Major John B. Alexander, to-
whose sister he was afterward married, and was admitted to the bar in 1823.
In 1850 he was elected by the Whig party to congress from the district com-
posed of Westmoreland, Somerset, Indiana and Fulton counties. He did not
like congressional life, but preferred the practice of the law. He was a jovial,,
polished gentleman and was the author of one bon mot which always lived : At
a dinner given by a prominent member of the bar when ]Vlr. Kuhns was quite
old, when the guests were sitting around the table, they began to make remarks
upon the appearance of the remnants of a large turkey which had been almost
entirely eaten. This noble bird had been garnished with fern leaves. Manr
of the lawyers were remarking as to what the bird then resembled, when Mr.
Kuhns said that it reminded him of "Fern on Remainder."' It mav be well?

^o4

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

to state for the benefit of those who are not members of the bar, that this was
.the name of an EngHsh law book in common use many years ago. He died
JSfovember i6, 1883.

H. Byers Kuhns, born in Greensburg, was graduated from Jefferson Col-
Jege and admitted to the bar in 1849, having read law with his father, Joseph
H. Kuhns. He practiced law with a great deal of success all his life, except
that he spent four years in the Civil war in the Eleventh Regiment Pennsyl-
vania Volunteers, which was commanded by General Richard Coulter. He
•died October 9, 1889.

W. H. H. IMarkle was a lawyer of much prominence in his day. He was
born near Millgrove, in Westmoreland county, February 3. 1823. He read
law with Senator Cowan, was admitted to the bar in 1847, ^"d was m partner-
ship at different times with James C. Clark, James A. Logan and his son-in-
law, \\'elty AlcCullough, He was district attorney and collector of internal
revenue, and was a man of high character and integrity. He died of par-
:alysis, in Philadelphia, December 18, 1883.

John Armstrong, son of John Armstrong, Sr., was born in Greensburg,
August II, 1816. His father was a lawyer of much distinction and his son
doubtless received great advantages in his early student days. At all events the
son became one of the most thorough lawyers of his day in our county. He
Avas not an advocate, but in the preparation of papers, in the settlement of
estates and in giving wise counsel to his clients, he stood at the very head of
"his profession. He was, furthermore, a most complete gentleman, one of re-
tiring disposition, and extremely kind and polite to all with whom he came in
contact. No lawyer of the past is more kindly remembered than he.

Mr. Armstrong's ability as a lawyer cannot be told in any better way than
by a current anecdote of the bar. When Judge Buffington was on the bench
Mr. Armstrong was appointed an auditor to distribute a large and important
•estate. When his report was completed exceptions were filed to some of his
allowances. These exceptions finally came before the judge and were heard
by him without knowing, perhaps, wdio the auditor was. They did not seem,
however, to impress him very favorably, and he therefore inquired who had
been the auditor. When told that it was Mr. Armstrong he remarked : "Oh !
well, gentlemen, that will do ; these exceptions are dismissed and the distri-
bution of the auditor confirmed."

He was an old line Presbyterian and lived au exemplary Christian life. He
■died August 3, 1889.

Welty McCullough was born in Greensburg in 1847 an^l was graduated
from Princeton College in the class of 1870. He read law with his father-in-
law, Harry Markle, Esq., in Greensburg, and was admitted to practice in 1872.
He did not confine his practice entirely to this county, else we would doubtless
have more to say of him. \'ery early in his professional life he became a' cor-
poration lawyer and gave most of his attention to railroad law, and, whilst he
always resided in Greensburg, he continuously kept an ofifice in Pittsburgh. He

"^

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY, 365

was renowned both there and in Greensburg as a railroad and cxDrporation
lawyer, and in the preparation of papers and in all of the varied work of an all-
round lawyer, he took anything- but second place.

In 1886 he was elected to congress as a Republican, representing West-
moreland, Fayette and Greene counties. The district was strongly Democratic,.
but there were two Democrats in the field, which divided the vote of that
party, and ^Ir. McCullough was elected. Unfortunately, shortly after the close
of his first and only term in congress, he was taken sick and died August 31,.
1889.

James C. Clark was born in Laughlintown, a little village in the eastern
part of Westmoreland county, February 2, 1823. His father, James Clark,,
was an extensive iron producer, and was engaged in the iron industry at
Washington furnace, near Laughlintown. James Clark, Sr., was one of the
prominent men of his day. He was canal commissioner and state senator,,
and came within one vote of being elected to the United States Senate in 1833,
when James Buchanan was the successful candidate. His son received the best
of preliminary training, and was graduated from Jefferson College in 1843.

;Mr. Clark read law with Justice Coulter and was admitted to the bar in-
W'estmoreland county in 1846. He was known as an office lawyer and in this
he took high standing. He had a large corporation business, particularly for
that day, when corporations were not so plentiful as now. For many years
he was solicitor for the Pennsylvania Railroad Company in Westmoreland
county. In 1874 he was elected to the state senate, and again in 1876, serving
till 1881, and this, we believe, was the only office to which he ever aspired. In
his later years he retired from the practice of the law and devoted his time as-
siduously to the coal business and to banking, he being one of the founders
of the Greensburg Banking Company and also of the First National Bank.

He was for many years a school director in Greensburg and gave this his
most thorough attention, as much so as though the office had paid him thous-
ands. He was regarded as one of the most progressive school directors in the
county, a reputation of which any man may, be proud. He was a man of the
highest integrity and a very substantial pillar in the United Presbyterian
church. He died on April 23, 1893, and was buried in the St. Clair cemetery.
William H. Young was born in 1853 in Salem township, read law with
James A. Hunter and was admitted to the bar in November, 1877. !\Ir. Young
did not have the benefit of a college education, at least not one obtained within
the walls of a college, but he had spent years in the study of mathematics,
science, history, language and literature — indeed, in all the branches that are
usually pursued by a student in college. It must further be said that he was
most thorough in these, and in whatever he attempted. Particularly was he
strong in Latin and Greek. Nature had bestowed her gifts on Mr. Young with
a lavish hand. She had endowed him essentially with the mind of a lawyer,
and in all his mental qualities he approximated genius.

He was a tall, slender man with black hair and dark, flashing eyes. VerTi^

365 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

soon after his admission to the bar in, 1877, he began to try cases and rapidly
attained a high rank in the profession. His command of language was simply
marvelous. When wrought up in argument to the court he was a man of
unrivaled power, and seemed to have at his tongue's end the accumulated
thoughts and wisdom of a life's work. There was also a poetic temperament
which ran through all his life, and bubbled forth in every sentence he uttered.
These qualities were supplemented by an earnest manner, a voice with every
jiote of music in its tones, and a magnetism which charmed his hearers and held
them spellbound while he spoke.

JMr. Young was without conceit, egotism or vanity, and apparently without
even a knowledge of his superior powers. He frequently admired and praised
qualities in others which he possessed in a much more eminent degree him-
self. His peculiar ability to throw himself into the breach and work with un-
rivaled might and skill in the face of defeat, with little time for immediate
preparation, often brought him at the last hour into, cases that were, from
their very nature, almost hopeless. Sometimes he was able thus to grasp vic-
tory from despair. When, as frequently happened, he drew by his splendid
effort the heartiest congratulations from those who heard him, he always mod-
estly shunning all compliments or words of praise, invariably replied, "No
matter about the address, but how about the verdict?"

But all these rare intellectual powers were marred by ill health, he being
an invalid almost from the time he came to the bar. In 1891 he was sud-
denly afflicted with softening of the brain, from which he died in a few months.

Harrison Perry Laird was the youngest son of Rev. Francis and Mary
Moore Laird, and was of Scotch-Irish descent. He was a descendant, more-
over, of Hon. John Moore, who is referred to elsewhere in these sketches as an
early president judge. Mr. Laird was born in Franklin township, this county,
in 1814. From his youth he was a cripple, and this, doubtless, by preventing
him from engaging in many athletic pursuits, made him essentially a student,
which quality he kept throughout his long life. He was graduated from Jet-
ferson College and for a time taught school in Madison Academy, Kentucky,
after which he took a course in the Transylvania L^niversity ; still later he re-
turned to Pennsylvania and read law with Hon. Charles Schaler, in Pittsburgh.
Shortly after his admission to the bar he moved to Greensburg, where he prac-
ticed law the rest of his life.

He was little given to politics, but was a member of the legislature in 1848,
1849 and 1850, and a member of the state senate of Pennsylvania from 1880
to 1884, representing Westmoreland county. As chairman of the bank com-
mittee he drafted the Banking Law of 1850, some parts of which have been
preserved In the present National Bank act of the United States.

Mr. Laird was, as we have stated, not a politician, but strictly a lawyer.
No one would think of giving him second place at the bar after Cowan and
Foster, who were eminent in a degree beyond what might be expected from a
country county. He was. moreover, a deeply learned scholar, conversant with

J^ . JP J1(X i^rC,

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 367

the English and German languages, and with Hebrew, Greek and Latin, He
was a friend and suitable companion of the most learned college men of his
day, and contributed more or less to the literature of southwestern Pennsyl-
vania. In the trial of a case he was most persistent, and in the preparation of
liis cases and of all legal documents he was extremely painstaking.

He was never married, and in his latter years became something of a
cynic. A few illustrations of this may not be out of place. He had a marked
contempt for the medical profession. A few years before his death a woman,
a neighbor of his, was taken violently ill and called in a physician, contrary
to Air. Laird's advice. ]\Ir. Laird, in speaking of the matter the next morn-
ing, said: "She was taken suddenly ill and called a physician, who gave her
medicine late last night, and in one hour she was dead." "Asa in his disease
sought not to the Lord but to the physician. And Asa slept with his fathers."

In describing the eminent Judge Trunkey to the writer he spoke of him as a
lal^ge man with a deep voice and strong constitution, ravenous appetite, etc.
"Indeed," said he, "Judge Trunkey is very much such a man as our present
candidate for judge, except that Judge Trunkey is a good lawyer."

]\Ir. Laird was a member of and attended the German Reformed church
regularly. One morning as he was leaving church he was accosted by the
minister who asked him, rather pointedly, "How did you like my discourse
this morning, senator?" Quick as thought the caustic wit replied, "It was a
most excellent text, sir, a most excellent one indeed."

In his later years he had a partner who paid considerable attention to poli-
tics, and was consequently visited frequently by politicians. One morning a

place hunter entered the office and said hurriedly, "Is Mr. in the office,

senator?" The old gentleman sized him up at once, and looking hurriedly to
each corner of the office and then under the desk and table, he said, "I do not
see him anywhere."

The students of Franklin and Alarshall College, of which i\Ir. Laird was a
trustee, wrote him some years ago asking for a subscription to equip and sup-
port their football team, Mr. Laird being a man of large estate.. He replied
to their letter as follows :

"Gentlemen:

"Your letter soliciting a contribution to the Athletic Association of Franklin
and ^Marshall College is received.

"There can be no objection to students playing ball for an hour at noon, but
to make a business of athletics is detrimental, not only to the students, but to the
institution that permits it.

"You cannot co-ordinate beef and brains; th; one man in Rome whom the
great Caesar most feared, Cassius, had a lean and hungry look.
"Yours very truly,

"H. P. LAIRD."

368 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

When on his death bed, a former pastor asked him if there was anything he
could do for him or anything which he wanted. His laconic reply was : "You
can do nothing for me ; all I desire is a speedy entrance into rest."

Mr. Laird died October i6, 1897, possessed of a large estate, and in his
will he remembered his nephews and nieces, his church, the poor widows of
Greensburg, and lastly he manifested his affection for his profession by a le-
gacy to the Westmoreland Law Association, of which he had been president
since its organization.

Jacob Turney was a grandson of Jacob Turney and the son of Jacob Tur-
ney, Jr., and ^^largaret Singer Turney, and was born in Greensburg on Febru-
ary 18, 1825. He receive his education in the common schools in Greens-
burg. During his early years he learned the printer's trade, and after en-
gaging in that business a short time he entered the register's office of West-
moreland county, and while so engaged read law with Hon. A. G. ]\Iarchand.
Mr. Marchand died before Mr. Turney had completed his studies and he fin-
ished his law reading under Henry C. Marchand, and was admitted to the bar
in May, 1849. In 1850 he was elected district attorney of Westmoreland
county, being the first district attorney elected under the new law. He was
also elected in 1853 and served until January i, 1857.

During his incumbency of this office the Pennsylvania railroad was in
process of construction in this county, and this gave rise to a great amount of
criminal business for that age. Murder trials were frequent, and Air. Turney
attained great prominence as a lawyer in their prosecution. It was he who
prosecuted Ward and Gibson in 1854, who were charged with the murder of
Lucinda Sechrist. He was also the prosecutor in the case of the Common-
wealth vs. Hugh Corrigan (1858), which was so important a case that Edgar
Cowan was called into it, and the result was a conviction of murder in the
first degree. This was by far the most remarkable murder case that took
place in the history of Westmoreland county in the latter half of the last cen-
tury.

In- 1856 Air. Turney was a presidential elector and cast his vote for James
Buchanan for president. In 1857 lie was nominated by acclamatioji for the
office of state senator, and he filled the position, as he did all others to which
he was called, with signal ability. In the senate he was a friend and compan-
ion of Samuel J. Randall and of other men who afterwards became noted in'>
Pennsylvania and national history. In 1859, at the close of his term, he was
elected president of the senate. In 1874 he was a candidate in the Twenty-first
Congressional district, composed of the counties of Westmoreland, Fayette and
Greene, for Congress and was elected to the Forty-fourth Congress and again to
the Forty-fifth Congress. Mr. Turney while in Congress served upon very im-
portant committees. After leaving Congress he resuined the practice of his
profession in Greensburg and was again rewarded with much success. He
has left it on record, however, that he regarded it as a great error for a pro-
fessional man even to temporarily abandon his practice for the blandishments
of ])olitical honor.

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 369

It is probably not possible for any one man to excel in all of the mental at-
tainments which contribute to make a great lawyer. Mr. Turney, whilst he
had his full share of all of them, in one particular was most noted, and that
was in his use of the English language. He had an inexhaustible fund of splen-
did English, which flowed from him as though from a never failing fountain.
This perh?ps came to him by nature, but more likely was the fruit of his being
very widelv read in standard literature, he being an omnivorous reader all his
life. ' Unf' rtunately he did not live to fill out the full measure of his life, but
died, aged sixty-six years, on October 4, 1891.

George Dallas Albert was born in Youngstown, Westmoreland county,
Pennsylvania, in 1846, and was admitted to the bar in 1869. He had a su-
perior intellect and was perhaps the most literary member of the bar in his day.
He was always a polite, retiring gentleman of the old school, if one born so late
as he can justly so be called. He was rarely ever engaged in the trial of cases,
and had no taste whatever for business done in open court except such as re-
lated to the preparation of papers. His strong point was the amicable adjust-
ment of difficulties which arose between business men. In the settlement of
cases, the harmonizing of discordant elements, and in the happy faculty of
making friends, he certainly had no superiors. His mind naturally led him into
historical researches, and we believe that, aside from his work at the bar, he
has done more to unearth and perpetuate the history of Western Pennsyl-
vania, and particularly of Westmoreland county, than any other man living or
dead. The writer is free to say that without the researches which Mr. Albert
made years ago, many of these pages could not be written. He was the author
of \'olume I of "Frontier Forts of Pennsylvania," and of the "History of
Westmoreland County," published in 1882. Aside from these works, which are
of untold value, he contributed a great deal as the result of his historical re-
searches, to the newspapers, and to "Notes and Queries," of Harrisburg. He
was a careful and most painstaking writer, and every article which he produced
was the result of the most thorough investigation. They are entitled to the
highest credence, and the reader may rest assured that, when he examined a
subject, there remained but little undiscovered testimony concerning it. His
writings wherever found, are characterized by a grace of expression and a
beauty of thought which have been but seldom equaled, even by men who de-
voted their lives to letters.

In 1898 he was afflicted with a cancer and soon succumbed to the ravages
of the dread disease. He died in October and was buried near Latrobe.

John M. Peoples was born in West Fairfield, Westmoreland county, in
1849, and was the son of William and Margaret Moorhead Peoples. Attending
college at Wooster, Ohio, he was graduated in 1875. He then entered the
Albany Law School and was graduated there in 1877 and came to Greensburg
to read law with Mr. D. S. Atkinson. He was admitted to the bar in 1878.
During his law reading and for some years after he was admitted to the bar
he served as court stenographer under bath Judge Logan and Judge Hunter.

24

370 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

Later he formed a partnership with D. S. Atkinson, and after that gave his
entire time to his profession. In this he was indeed very successful. No client
ever suffered from want of attention on his part. He was not an advocate, but
could talk very well to a court and to a jury when necessary. He was for many
years one of the owners of the Tribnne-HcraJd, a leading paper of the county.

He was married in 1887 to Miss Rebecca Doty, a sister of Judge Doty, and
soon took up his residence in an apparently typical southern home of colonial
style east of Greensburg, built in the early years of last century by General
William Tack. He did not live to fill out the span of life accorded to man by
the Psalmist, but died in July, 1901.

Jacob R. Spiegel was born near Stuttgart, Germany, in 1847. After hav-,
ing graduated from a college in Ohio he became a teacher and principal of the
Greensburg schools, after which he was elected county superintendent of the
schools of Westmoreland county, and was re-elected, filling the position from
1878 until 1884. After retiring from this office he engaged in business for,
some time, and afterwards read law and was admitted to the bar, and iinmed-
iately began to practice.

He was energetic and industrious in his professional life, and as he had a
large acquaintance throughout the county, he soon assisted in gathering fcr
the firm a large and paying clientage. Connected as he had been with
the schools and the school system of Pennsylvania, he always took an
active part in educational matters, and in this line he accomplished a great deal
of good. In 1900 he was the candidate of his party for representative in Con-
gress from this district, but the district being overwhelmingly Republican, he
was not elected.

Early in the year of 1902 he was taken sick, and though he struggled man-
fully and bore up resolutely under his affliction, he was unable to recover and
died on January 3, 1903.

Joseph J. Johnston was a son of William Johnston and Julia Ann (Gorgas)
Johnston, and was born near Pleasant Unity, July 12, 1838. He began to teach
school in 1855, taught in the public schools for some years and was assistant
teacher in the Sewickley academy in 1859 and i860.

Mr. Johnston began to read law with the late E. J. Keenan, Esq., at Greens-
burg, and afterward finished his course of reading with Mr. James S. Moor-
head, with whom, upon his admission to the bar, he formed a partnership which
lasted many years. For the last twelve or fifteen years he had been practicing
alone. His practice was almost exclusively an office practice ; very rarely if ever
did he appear in jury trials, but confined his work largely to the orphans'
court, etc., in which branch of the profession he indeed made for himself
a name that any one might be proud of. In addition to this, he having been a
school teacher himself, took great interest in the public schools of Pennsyl-
vania. On March 20, 1870, he became a school director in Greensburg, and
filled the position by election continuously until 1899, a term of about thirty
years. He died siuldcnl}- on October 22, 1903.

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 371

Dr. Frank Cowan was born on December 11, 1844, and was a son of Senator
Edgar Cowan, who has been written of elsewhere. He was educated in part
at Washington and Jefferson College and shortly after his father was elected to
the United States senate in 1861, he went to Washington as his secretary.
While there he read medicine and was graduated from the Washington Medi-
cal College. In 1865 he was admitted to the bar in Westmoreland county, and
for a time practiced law in Washington City, being admitted while there, to the
supreme court of the United States. During the latter part of President John-
son's administration he was one of his private secretaries, and did a great deal
of work in the celebrated impeachment trial of that day.

Dr. Cowan was essentially a student and scholar, there being no science,
philosophy, poetry, history or literature with which he was not in some degree
at least familiar. He was a complete master of several languages and in his life
found more pleasure in contributing to the literature of southwestern Penn-
sylvania than in the practice of either of his professions. His law practice
was therefore not extensive, but any one who will examine his pleadings will
find that they were the work of a master mind. He was more than all this, a
world traveler, having gone around the world twice. On these long trips he
broke bread with the rich and poor of every nation on the globe and
studied their habits, their history and their languages as few other men have
done. He had been in every important city in the world except Boston.
Ko one could enjoy his entertaining conversation for an hour without con-
cluding that he had been greatly benefited, ana that, while traveling through-
out the world, he had his eyes open. He died in the early part of 1906.

WEST.AIORELAXD LAW ASSOCIATION.

The Westmoreland Law Association was organized and incorporated in
1886. Many of the founders are now dead. With not over forty members in
the beginning it has grown to embrace almost the entire bar. Hon. H. P.
Laird was its first president and was annually re-elected until his death in
1897.

The Association is managed by an executive committee of three members,
who have very general powers of control. After the payment of its running
•expenses, its funds are used for the sole purpose of maintaining its library
which has grown to large proportions. Its funds are derived from membership
fees and annual dues paid by the members. It has commodious quarters in the
courthouse, adjacent to the courtrooms, and has on hand for further enlargement
a neat sum of money at interest. The Association takes an active interest in pro-
moting salutary legislation. A social feature is its annual banquet, which has
tecome so enjoyable that it is anticipated each year with great interest. The
death of one of its members is made the occasion of a memorial meeting at
which fitting tributes are paid to the deceased and a record of its action is
spread upon the minutes.

372

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

The Association has been promotive of closer social relations among the
members of the bar. It also enables the profession in an organized capacity
to impress itself upon current legislation, while its library has subserved the
convenience of its members.

It is not our province to write of the members of the bar who are now in
active practice. Quite a number of these are in the bar who, by professional
industry and natural abihty, have won places far beyond what might reasonably
be expected from men oi their age.

The Association has been promotive of closer social relations among the
ter sessions court record is as nearly perfect as the crude minutes of the early
courts will warrant. In some instances years elapsed without a record of the
admission of a single attorney. The names of some prominent attorneys do
not appear in the court list at all. Those given are known to have been admitted
to practice at the Westmoreland bar.

Those who are living and now in active practice are marked with a star,
and comprise indeed a very promising list of attorneys. Particularly is this
true of the younger members of the bar. If, as we hope, in the dim future
some abler pen shall take up this work again, it will doubtless be found that
among them are men who are not surpassed by the ablest and brightest of
those of whom we have written :

Francis Dade, admitted August 3. 1773; Micbael Huffiiagle, January S, 1779;
Samuel Edwin, January 5, 1779; Andrew Scott, October 1779; H. H. Brackenridge,
April, 1781; James Berwick, April. 1781; David Bradford, April, 1782; Thomas
Duncan, January, 1783; George Thompson, January, 1783; John Woods, Janr.Qry,
1784: John Young, January, 1789; Daniel St. Clair, January. 1789; David Reddick,
July 6, 1790; Jacob Nagle, October 4, 1790; Steel Sample, October 6, 1791 ; Henry
Woods, June, 1792; David McKeehan, December, 1792; Hugh Ross, December,
1792; George Armstrong, March 11, 1793; Joseph Pentecost, March 12, 1793; Henry
Purviance, March, 1794; Arthur St, Clair, June, 1794; Paul Morrow, March, 1795;
Thomas Collins, June, 1795; Thomas Headon, December, 1795; James Morrison,
December, 1795; Thomas Creigh, March, 1796; Abraham Morrison, June, 1796;
Samuel Mehon, June. 1796; James Montgomery, December, 1796; John Lyon, June,
1797; Thomas Nesbitt, September, 1797; John Siminson, March, 1798; William
Bannells, June, 1798; Parker Campbell, June, 1798; Thomas Meason, September,
1798; David Hays, September, 1798; John Kennedy, September, 1798; C. S. Semple,
December, 1798: Samuel Deemer, March, 1799; William Ayers, March, 1799; Rob-
ert Callender, ]March, 1799; Robert Allison, September 1800: Ralph Martin, March,
1801; Samuel Harrison, June, 1801; Joseph Park, September, 1801; Joseph Weigley,
Decernber, iSoi ; Alex Foster, December, 1801 ; William N. Irwine, June, 1802 ; Jonath
R. Reddick, March, 1804; Othro Srader, March, 1804; Henry Haslet, March, 1804;
Meshack Sexton, June, 1804: Henry Baldwin, September, 1804; William .Ward, Jr.,
September, 1804; J. B. Alexander, December, 1804; Samuel Guthrie, December, 1804;
Samuel Selby, March, 1806; James M. Biddle, December, 1806; Walter Forward, Decern-

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 373

ber. 1806; Charles \V1lkin5, March, 1808: Samuel Massey. March, i8c8: John Reed,
November, 1808; H. M. Brackenridge, May, 1809; James Wells, September, 1809; John L.
Farr, September, 1809; Magnus M. Murray, December, 1809; Daniel Stanhard, February,
1810; James M. Kelly, February, 1810; Richard William Lain, May, 1810; Robert Findlay,
May, 1810: Neville B. Craig, August, 1810; Guy Hicox, August, 1810; John H. Chaplain,
August, 1810; John M. Austin, August, 1810; Richard Coulter, March, 181 1; James Car-
son, August, 181 1 ; Samuel Douglass, February, 1812; John McDonald, May, 1812; John
Dawson, February, 1814; Joseph Beckett, May, 1814; Samuel Kingston, May, 1814; Char-
les Shaler, December, 1814; John A. T. Kilgore, February, 1815 ; John Carpenter, February,
1815; Obadiah Jennings, August, 1815; Calvin Mason, October, 1815; Samuel Alexander,
May, 1816; Edward J. Roberts, November, 1816, Jacob M. Wise, February, 1817; S. V. R.
Forward, February, 1817; H. M. Campbell, May, 1818; James Hall, May, 1818; Andrew
Stewart, May, i8i8 ; Josiah E. Barclay, August, 1818; W. H. Brackenridge, August,
1S18; Ephraim Carpenter, August, 1818: A. Brackenridge, August, 1819; John Bouvier,
August, 1819; John S. Brady, Setember, 1819: John Y. Barclay, November, 1819; Thomas
Blair, February, 1820; Sylvester Dunham, May, 1820; James McGee, May, 1S20; Chaun-
cc-y Forward, August, 1820; Gasper Hill, Jr., August, 1820; H. G. Herron, April, 1822;
Charles Ogle, April, 1822; Joseph Williams, April, 1822; H. N. Weigley, April, 1822;
W. W. Fetterman, May, 1822 ; John Riddell, August, 1822 ; Thomas White, November,
1822; Thomas R. Peters, February, 1823; A. S. T. Mountain, February, 1823; John H.
Hopkins, May, 1823; Joseph H. Kuhns, August, 1823; Richard Biddle, May, 1824; James
S. Craft, May, 1824; James Findlay, August, 1824; William Snowden, February, 1825;
John Armstrong, February, 1825 ; John J. Henderson, May, 1825 ; Michael Gallagher, May,
1825; Hugh Gallagher, August, 1825; Richard Bard, November, 1825; William Pos-
tlethwaite, November, 1826; John Glenn, February, 1827; Thomas Struthers, August,
i8;7: R. B. McCabe, May, 1827; Daniel C. Morris, November, 1827; John H. Wells,
February, 1828; Thomas Williams, August, 1828; Alfred Patterson, November, 1828;
James Nichols, May, 1828; George Shaw, May, 1828; William F. Johnston, May, 1829;
H. D. Foster, August, 1829; M. D. Magehan, May, 1830; Robert Burk, August, 1830;
Joseph J. Young, November, 1830; William P. Wells, November, 183 1 ; Thomas L.
Shields, November, 1832; A. G. Marchand, February, 1833; John F. Beaver, February,
1833: A. W. Foster, Jr.. November, 1833; John H. Dcford, May, 1834; William B. Con-
Way, May, 1835; J. M. Burrell, May, 1835; Augustus Drum, May, 1836; J. Armstrong,
Ji. February, 1840; H. C. Marchand, May, 1840: J. F. Woods, May, 1840: Casper Har-
rold, February, 1842; Edgar Cowan, February, 1842; James Armstrong, February, 1842;
H. P. Laird, May, 1842; John Creswell, May, 1842; C. S. Eyster, May, 1842; Andrew
Ross, November, 1842; Daniel Wyandt, May, 1843; Amos Steck, May, 1843; Alex L.
Hamikon, August, 1843; Alex H. Miller, August, 1843; J. Sewell Stewart, August, 1843;
John C. Gilchrist, August, 1843; Wilson Riley, November, 1843; J. N. Nesbit, May,
1844; Edward Scull, May, 1844; Alex McKinny, August, 1844: Thomas J. Barclay,
1844: Francis Flanagen, May, 1844; Bernard Connyn, May, 1844; J- M. Carpenter, May,
August, 1844; James Donnelly, November, 1844; John Kerr, November, 1844: William
J. Williams, February, 1845; Thomas Donnelly, May, 1845; John Potter, August. 1845;
Thomas J. Keenan, August, 1845; P. C. Shannon, August, 1845: George W. Bonnin',

374 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

February. 1846: John Alexander Coulter, February, 1846: James C. Clarke, February,
1846: S.' B. McCormick, August, 1846; William A. Campbell, August, 1846; William H.
Markle, August, 1847; William A. Cook, August, 1847; L- T. Cantwell, November, 1847;
Francis Egan, May, 1848; John Campbell, August, 1848; John C. P. Smith, August,
1848; *Richard Coulter, Jr., February. 1849; H. Byers Kuhns, February, 1849; George
W. Clark. February, 1849; Samuel Sherwell, May, 1849: Jacob Turney, May. 1849;
John Penny, November, 1849; S. P. Ross, February, 1850; W. J. Sutton, November. 1850 ;
James Trees, August, 185 1 ; H. S. Magraw, August, 1851 ; John E. Fleming. August,
l8:;2. Thomas G. Taylor, August, 1852; J. Freetly, August, 1853; Thomas Armstrong,
August, 1853 ; James Todd, August, 1853 ; J- M. Underwood, May, 185S ; A. A. Stewart,
May, 1857; *James C. Snodgrass, May, 1857; John H. Hoopes, August, 1857; Thomas
Fenlon, August, 1858; James A. Hunter, August, 1858; Judge Kelly, November, 1858;
John D. McClarren, November. 1858; *John Latta, November, 1859; John I. Case, No-
vember, i860; Andrew M. Fulton, November, i860; M. A. Ganders, November, i860;
W. R. Boyer, May, 1861 ; Jacob Beaumont, November, 1861 ; W..H. Stewart, February,
1862; W. M. Given, May, 1862; R. B. Patterson, May, 1862; Albert Daun, November,
1862; J. H. Hampton, November, 1862; John V. Painter, February, 1863; James A.
Logan, May, 1863; James A. Blair, May, 1863; J. H. Calhoun, August, 1865; E. J.
Keenan, November, 1863; Michael Sarver, November, 1863; B. G. Childs, November,
1863; B. H. Lucas, November, 1863; W. C. Moorland, November, 1863; T. R. Dulley,
I>lay, 1864; John A. Marchand, May, 1864; J. J. Hazlett, May, 1864; J. M. Brown. No-
vember, 1864; W. G. L Totten, November, 1864; W. M. Moffett, May, 1865; W. H.
Lowrie, May, 1865; A. Weidman, August, 1865; *Cyrus P. Long, August, 1865; Frank
Cowan, August, 1865; S. P. Fulton, February, 1866; Samuel Palmer, February, 1866;
H. H. McCormick, February, 1866; William D. Moore, February, 1866; James R. Mc-
Afee, August, 1866; Alex J. Walker, August, 1866; Henry U. Brumer, August, 1866;
J. Trainor King, August, 1866; George R. Cochran, August, 1866; J. B. Sampson,
November, 1866; John Blair, November, 1866; George E. Wallace, February, 1867;
Thomas P. Dick, November, 1867; William M. Blackburn, May, 1868; John Y. Woods,
May, 1868; *Silas McCormick, May, 1868; *John F. Wentling, May, 1868; George D.
Budd, May, 1868; Daniel McLaughlin, November, 1868; John W. Rohrer, February,
1869; *D. S. Atkinson, February, 1869; T. J. Weddell, February, 1869; *David T. Har-
vey, February, 1869; G. D. Albert, February, 1869; Samuel Singleton. May, 1869; W.
D. Todd, May, 1869; William T. Haines, May, 1870; D. F. Tyranny, May, 1870; G. W.
Minor, May, 1870; *Silas A. Kline, May, 1870; Frederick S. Rock, May, 1870; *James
S. Moorhead, May, 1870; James F. Gildea, November, 1870; W. H. Klingensmith, No-
vember, 1870; *John D. Gill, August, 1871 ; Irwin W. Tarr, August, 1871 ; M'. H. Todd,
February. 1872 : Samuel Lyon. February, 1872 ; James G. Francis. February, 1872 ; Welty
McCuUough, May, 1872 ; D. Porter, August, 1872 ; Joseph J. Johnson, February, 1873 ;
John H. McCuUough, May, 1873; *George Shiras, February, 1874; *W. H. Walkinshaw,
February, 1877; *A. D. McConnell, May, 1877; W. H. Young, August, 1877; *V. E.
Williams, May, 1878; John M. Peoples, May, 1878; *Alex M. Sloan, November, 1879:
"Alex. Eicher, May, 1880; *J. T. Marchand, August, 1880; *John B. Head, August,
1880; *Lucien W. Doty, May, 1881 ; *J. A. C. Ruffner, May, 15, 1873; *?• H. Geither,
1875; *J. W. Taylor, September 29, 1879; *Jno. N. Boucher, September 29, 1879; *D. C.
Ogden, October i, 1880 ; J. H. Ryckman, September 30, 1882 ; Giffen Culbertson, January
19, 1884; *Jas. S. Beacon. January 19, 1884; *A. H. Bell, April 8, 1884; *E. E. Robbins,
April 8, 1884: *J. B. Keenan, Jime 6, 1885; L E. Lauffer, August 31, 1885; M. L. Baer.
August 31, 1885; *Wm. C. Peoples, August 31, 1885; *D. A. Miller, August 31, 18S5 ;
*0. R. Snyder, August 31, 1885; *G. E. Kuhns, August 31, 1885; *J. A. McCurdy. Aug-
ust 31, 1885; Jno. G. Ogle, February 25. 1886; *J. R. Smith. April 24. 1886; *J. W. Sarver.

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUXTV. 375

July, 31, 1886; *C. H. Hunter, May 9. iSS/: *W. S, Byers, May 9. 1887; *E. E. Alls-
liouse, December 17, 1887; *J. E. Keenan, December 17, 1887; *N. M. McGeary, Decem-
ber 17, 1887: *Jno. E. Kunkle, December 17, 1887; Jno. C. Robinson, December 17, 1887;
J. R. Spiegel, Dec. 17, 1887; *Jno. B. Steel, August 4, 1888; *Jno. M. Jamison, Aug-
ust 4, 1888; *Curtis H. Gregg, August 4, 1888; *David L. Newill, August 4, 1888; *Sidney
J. Potts, February 2, 1889; *Edward B. McCormick, December 13, 1889; *George W.
Flowers, December 14, 1889; Joseph E. Kinney, November 13, 1890; *George S. Rum-
baugh, November 13, 1890; *George B. Ferguson, September 8, 1891 ; J. F. McNaul,
September 8, 1891 ; Walter J. Guthrie, November 12, 1891 ; *J. S. Whiteworth. February
I, 1892; *J. B. Owens, February 4, 1893; *W. T. Cline, November 28, 1885; * C. E. Alls-
htiuse, September 26, 1893; F. H. Guffey ; G. D. Hamor; *H. C. Durbin, January 30, 1892;
*E. F. Nipple, January 30, 1892: *Frank B. Hargrave, February I, 1892; *J. P. Pinkerton,
January 30, 1892; *J. L. Kennedy, January 30, 1892; *W. F. Wegley, January 30, 1892;
*G. B. Shaw, March 3, 1893; *N. A. Cort, February 20, 1893; *Chas. C. Crowell, Feb-
ruary 20, 1893 ; *J. E. B. Cunningham, September 26, 1893 ; *Richard Coulter, Jr., May
7, 1894; *C. M. Jamison, February 2, 1895: *J. C. Shields, September 26, 1893; *C. K.
McCreary, September 26, 1893; *Thomas Barclay, February 2, 1895; *H. H. Dinsmore,
May 7, 1894; *J. R. Silvis, September 26, 1893; *C. E. Whitten, November 4, 1893; *C.
E. Woods, May 11, 1895; *Luke Lonergan, May 7, 1894; *H. H. Fisher, February 4,
1S95; *G. H. Hugus, May 7, 1894; *T. M. O'Halloran, January 30, 1897; E. C. Given,
April 18 ,1896; John Q. Cochran, October 24, 1896; *J. S. Kimmel, May 7, 1894; *W. L.
Ulery, May 11, 1895; *Frank Good, May 11, 1895; *S. W. Bierer, May 11, 1895; Andrew
Banks, November 13, 1895; *B. F. Scanlon, May 11, 1895; *A. C. Snively, January 25,
1896; Charles Rugh, January 25, 1896; *B. A. Wirtner, January 25, 1896; *C. D. Cope-
land, April 18, 1896; D. J. Snyder, October 24, 1896; *H. N. Yont, October 24, 1896;
*H. E. Marker, O.ctober 24, 1896; *J. C. Silsley, October 24, 1896; *C. B. Hollingsworth,
October 24, 1896; *W. T. Dom, Jr., October 24, 1896; *C. W. Eicher, October 24, 1896;
*3. R. Kline, January 30, 1897; M. J. Hosack, June 26, 1897; *Jno. S. Lightcap, June
26. 1897; *R. K. Portser, June 26, 1897; *Z. T. Silvis, November 15, 1897; *Jno. F.
Vv'entling, Jr., April 23, 1898; *R. D. Laird, April 23, 1898: *Eugene Warden. April 30,
1898; F. B. Folk, April 30, 1898; *P. K. Shaner, April 29, 1899; *H. C. Beistel, June 24,
1809; *J- C. Blackburn, April 28, 1900; *John McFayden, November 3. 1900; *Robt. W.
Smith, November 3, 1900 ; *J. C. Lauffer, November 3, 1900 ; *R. D. Hurst, November 3,
igoo: *Rabe F. Marsh, November 3, 1900; *L. C. Walkinshaw, November 3, 1900; *H.
E. Blank, November 3, 1900; *Wm. S. Rial, May 12, 1901 ; *C. L. Kerr, May 19, 1901 ;
*Henry S. Gill, December 21, 1901 ; *Lawrence Monahan, November 18, 1901 ; *A. M.
Wyant, May 5, 1902 ; *Jolin T. Moore, November 18, 1901 ; *C. E. Heller, May 5, 1902 ,
*Edw. P. Doran, November 9, igoi ; *John McC. Kennedy, May 5, 1902 ; *James B.
Weaver, May 5, 1902 ; *Alex. Eicher. Jr., May 5, 1902 ; *George E. Barron, November
9, 1901 ; *Jos. J. Knappenberger, *Paul J. Head, *Jay R. Spiegel, Harry E. Cope, *CIarence
E. Hugus. *Jno. B. Brunot, *Wm. A. Kunkle, *Geo. P. Kline, *Walter S. Wible, "}. Q.
Cochran, *Walter J. Guthrie, *Coulter Wigins, *E. R. Shirey. *R. K. McConnell, *H. V.
Rowan, *Wade T. Kline, *Hugh A. Boale.

CHAPTER

History of the Medical Profession.

It is extremely difficult at this late day to write a satisfactory history of the
Westmoreland medical profession. For more than a century physicians prac-
ticed here without any record whatever of their work among us, except such
as been handed down by tradition. .After the passage of the act of 1881, all
physicians in the state were compelled to register in the county in which they
practiced. Since then their history is better preserved, but it is not yet by any
means as complete as one could wish. From the very nature oi the profession
there is little publicity in their work. They came among us, they labored hard
and earnestly, passed away and are almost forgotten, and, if remembered, it is
usually for something which they did outside of the work to which they de-
voted their lives and talents. We have undoubtedly had many very bright
men in the profession in the century last past, and to write of a few of these
particularly is the best we can do.

Dr. James Postlethwaite was born in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, January 12,
1776. His father. Colonel Samuel Postlethwaite, was, we think, a colonel in
the Revolution. He was a man of distinction, and was of English descent.
His affluence afforded his son a good education for that day. Carlisle was
the seat of Dickinson College, which was then one of the leading institutions
of the country, though it has since been far surpassed by other schools which
were then unknown and unthought of. When he was sixteen }-ears old he left
college and began to read medicine with Dr. Samuel A. McCaskey, then one of
the leading physicians of Carlisle. At that age he had far surpassed young
men of his years in the acquisition of general information, for from his youth
he had displayed a taste for books, and a mastery of them that was marvelous.
In 1795 and 1796 he attended medical lectures in the University of Philadel-
phia. The leading instructors then were such men as Shippen, \\'istor and
Benjamin Rush, who have not been surpassed, all things being considered, since
their dav.

HISTORY OF IVESTMORELAND COUNTY. T^yy

"Wliile a student at medicine he enlisted in the army, sent west in the fall
of 1794, b)- President Washington to put down the Whisky Insurrection, and
was appointed assistant surgeon to his regiment. This brought him to West-
moreland, and he was so pleased with the country, its mountains and its pros-
pects for the future, that he determined to locate here when he had sufficiently
finished his professional studies. Accordingly, in 1795 he left behind him the
intelligent and cultured center in which he had been reared, and came on horse-
back to Greensburg, then in the backwoods of civilization, to start in profes-
sional life. For many years the English government, and later our own, had
'Sup])orted a military barracks at Carlisle and this had brought about a refine-
ment and culture that was unknown in the western part of the state. Still the
young practitioner liked our people, and soon built up for himself a growing
and lucrative practice. In 1799 he returned to Carlisle, and was married to a
]\Iiss Smith. Together they journeyed here on horseback, and together they
lived most happily till death separated them nearly fifty years afterwards.

The practice of medicine was very burdensome in this community then.
The town was little else than a collection of log houses, with here and there a
brick or stone structure owned by the wealthiest families. The country around
was but thinly populated compared with what it is now. There were, more-
'over, no pikes, no regularly built roads, no regular mails, and no newspapers.
Over these hills he rode on horseback, much of the time at night, and through
paths in the woods. There was, of course, no drug store in the county, and
every physician was compelled to keep and carry with him a complete stock of
remedies. This was carried in a pair of saddle bags which hung across the horse
on the back of the saddle. He was expected to draw teeth, to set broken bones,
to amputate and bleed when necessary, and, in fact, to practice all branches of
physics and surgery. Dr. Postlethwaite often rode as far as twenty miles
to see patients, and the distance then meant more than twenty miles do now.
It was a hard and laborious life. The celebrated traveler Mungo Park was a
country physician in Scotland, and afterwards spent several years in exploring
and surveying the wilds of Africa. He was decidedly of the opinion that of
the two the latter was preferable.

Whilst he obtained a large practice here, that is, as large as it well could
be, yet his reputation was confined to the narrow limits of the county. This
was almost of necessity, for the country physician has even now but few oppor-
tunities of becoming known outside of his own locality, and his limitations
were much more pronounced then than now. This was unfortunate for he had
intellectual force enough to lead his profession in any city. His mind was
larger than the fields in which his lot was cast, and he found relief in new ave-
nues of thought not in any way connected with his profession, and which did
not contribute to his success in curing the afflicted.

When he was a young man the Democrat and Federalist parties were just
forming, and he united himself with the latter. This meant more with him

3;S HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

than with most men, for he must understand the principles of his party and
be able at any time to uphold them or give reasons for his faith. He was a
close reader of American political history and in that line of thought had no
superior here, if, indeed, he had an equal. And this was in an age, too, when
there were unusually bright men at the bar. Dr. Postlethwaite was contem-
poraneous with John B. Alexander, the elder Foster and Richard Coulter',
men who stood so high in professional life that we still boast of their brilliant
achievements, and who have since their day had no rivals to their fame.
Postlethwaite had studied thoroughly the federal constitution, had read and
digested the writings of Hamilton, Adams and Jefferson so that he was as
much at home in' this field of thought as he was among the writings of the
eminent expounders of the science of medicine. He was the author of many
contributions on political subjects which, if collected, would fill a volume, and
would be of real value to the political history and literature of the country.
These were nearly all published in the Greensburg papers and in the old
Pittsburgh Gazette. In a series of articles he defended the administration of
John Quincy Adams when he was a second time a candidate for the presidency.
The other side was taken by Richard Coulter, whose ability whether as a writer,
as an orator, either at the bar or in congress, or on the supreme bench of the
state, shone with equal splendor, and is yet a heritage of which all Westmore-
landers are justly proud. Coulter's articles were published in the Westmore-
land Republican, while Postlethwaite's appeared in the Greensburg Gazette.
The controversy excited much interest, for each was at the very head of his
profession. Two plumed knights in the days of chivalry, as portrayed by Sir
Walter Scott, could not have excited more interest in a public encounter. Each
contestant bent his bow with his fullest strength, for each realized the strength
of his opponent. The friends of each claimed the victory, but the contestants
themselves regarded it as a drawn battle. They confessed that thev had put
forth their best efforts, and each admitted that in the other he had found
a foeman worthy of his steel.

Dr. Postlethwaite was a great admirer of Daniel Webster, and on the other
hand he had an apparent contempt and hatred for Andrew Jackson. When
told by a friend what the eccentric John Randolph had said of Webster, he
pronounced Randolph " an accursed caitiff, incapable of any great and good
action." Of Jackson he said, "His flatterers call him the Old Roman, the
noblest Roman of them all," etc. "Of all the Romans," said the doctor, "he
most closely resembles Caius Marius, who imbued his hands in the blood of his
fellow-citizens and trampled upon the liberties of his own countrv." When
the Federalist party ceased to exist he became an anti-Mason, because the
Democratic party was closely allied with the Masons. He used his caustic
pen with its usual force against secret societies in politics. Later he became a
Whig, but in all the changes of parties and men so common then he never be-
came a Democrat.

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 379.

Dr. Postlethwaite was equally well versed in ecclesiastic and polemic litera-
ture. Few clergymen know more of the Bible, the books pertaining to it and of
church history generally, than he.

Shortly and for many years after Webster's reply to Hayne, in 1830, the
world rang with the praise of the victor. New England papers called him the
"God-like Daniel." While in London, Webster was admired a great deal, and
not without reason, even by those who did not know him, because of his ma-
jestic appearance. Thackeray relates that it was said of Webster as he walked
the streets of London, that he must be deceitful, for no man could be as great
as Webster looked. Yet when Webster and Postlethwaite were walking and
talking on Main street, in Greensburg, there were many who thought Postle-
thwaite superior to him in personal appearance, and in the dignity and perfec-
tion of his movements. Postlethwaite was taller than Webster, and was-
straight and well proportioned. His nose and face were of a Roman cast,
as much so, says one writer, as that of Cato, the Roman censor.

He had four daughters and three sons. The oldest daughter married the
distinguished lawyer, politician and orator, Charles Ogle, of Somerset.
Another daughter, Sidney, married Dr. Alfred L. King, of Greensburg. His.
sons removed from Westmoreland, and the name Postlethwaite is now entirely
gone. He died in Greensburg, November 17, 1842, and there is not even a
stone to mark his last resting place.

Dr. Alfred L. King was born in Galway, New York, October 22, 1813.
His people were Covenanters, and had but little of this world's goods. By close
application the boy learned to read and write, and perhaps a little about arith-
metic and grammar. His father secured a place for him in the family of a
physician in Galway as a boy of general work around the house and office.
This work turned his attention to the medical profession, for he was employed
more or less in the delivery of medicines to patients, and perhaps somewhat
in their preparation. After being there a short time he quarreled with the
doctor's wife, and was probably discharged from this position. After that his
father managed that he attend school in Philadelphia. The school was kept
by Dr. Wiley, who not only taught, but preached regularly to a congregation.
Sometimes too, "he became intoxicated, but he was nevertheless an able teacher
and the boy made the best of his time there.

Still there clung to him the love for the medical profession, and he began to
study medicine and attend lectures, and was particularly interested in hospital
work, though it existed then in its infancy in the city. For a time he sup-
ported himself in a way by lecturing on medicine and by doing odd jobs for the-
city hospitals. Later he opened an office in the city, but had poor success in
securing patients. Finally he was ejected from his office for the non-payment
of rent, and was greatly discouraged. All this time he had been living at the
house of Air. Wiley, his old teacher. At this place he met a merchant from
Westmoreland county, named William Brown, who had, after the custom of

j8o HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

that day. gone to the city to purchase goods. Being a Covenanter, he had
drifted to Mr. Wiley's place. The country merchant had with him a West-
moreland paper which stated that the village of Pleasant Unity was greatly
in need of a physician. Dr. King took the opportunity and caine at once, ar-
riving in Pleasant Unity with seventy-five cents. For a time he walked, or
borrowed a horse, when he was called to see a patient, but he was soon able
to equip himself more thoroughly. This was in 1838. His practice often
called him into consultation with Dr. Postlethwaite, and. becoming acquainted
with his family, he was afterwards married to the doctor's daughter, Sidney
Postlethwaite. Shortly afterward he formed a partnership with his father-in-
law, and moved to Greensburg.

Nature had given him a scientific mind, and he paid more attention to
geology, botany and chemistry than any thing else save his owh profession, to
which he was devotedly attached. He contributed nine articles on geology
to the Greensburg Republican, which attracted great attention. He also began
to write and lecture on scientific subjects, among others on Bronchitis, Scrof-
ula, Cancer, Meteors, Tornadoes, Education, the Hessian Fly, Cholera, etc.
At that time his writings and lectures were not purely orthodox, though if de-
livered now, when the Bible is literally no longer regarded as a good text-book
On geology, they would not be supposed to conflict with the views of the
average church member;

A discovery he made in geology gave him a name among all the scientific
men of the world. Before 1844 all geologists, both in Europe and America,
taught that in the carboniferous age no air-breathing animal existed or could
have existed. This they believed was true, because the necessary presence of
carbonic acid gas in sufficient quantities to produce the wondrous growths as
ihown in the formation of coal precluded the possibility of air-breathing ani-
mals existing in it. Sir Charles Lyell, who was then the most eminent
geologist in England, says that no vertebrated animal of a higher organiza-
tion than fish, were discovered in rocks older than the permian age, until 1844.
The permian age follows the carboniferous age which closes the older division
geological time called the paleozoic age or era. But Dr. King made a dis-
covery of fossil remains which he dug from the earth in Unity township, which
showed the foot-prints of seven distinct animals on sandstone belonging to
the coal measures. For some time he pondered over these fossils, trying to
harmonize them with the accepted theory of geology. His discovery was tht
first indication in the world of the existence of a higher grade of animals in
■any formation older than red sandstone. It proved that these animals lived
before the carboniferous age, and conflicted with the whole system of geology.
Professor Silliman, in the American Journal of Science, in January, 1845, RS'^'e
Dr. King the credit of a discovery which must of necessity upturn and revo-
lutionize the whole science of geology.

Dr. King arrange.] all the tracks he had discovered, and invented a nomen-

HISTORY OF WESTMORELASD COUNTY. 38L

clature by which to designate the species of the animals which made them.
This he pubUshed in the Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of
Philadelphia, in 1844. Early in 1845 the American Journal of Science, edited
by P'rofessor Silliman, published a full description of the discovery, and illus-
trated it with drawings and pictures of the fossil marks, etc. Its publication
created a great stir in the scientific world. Sir Charles Lyell, president of the
Royal Geological Society of London, took the matter up and, like all great men,,
was open to conviction. He arranged to come to America in the interest of
his science and to make personal examinations of the strata in which the foot-
prints were found. He came to Greensburg, and Dr. King .took him to the
quarries in Unity township where the discovery was made. He made a special,
inspection of the geological formation of this county. The wise ( ?) men in
our town who could not appreciate Dr. King predicted that when the great
English scientist came he would make short work of King's discovery. It is
probable that he came here without much faith in the statement as published.
But so accustomed was he to reading the testimony of the rocks that it re-
quired but a short time to satisfy himself that they were indeed of an older
period than the carboniferous age. Turning to Dr. King he threw up his
hands saying "Tt is true, it is true." He was here in April, 1846. When he
first came he was unknown to most of our people, but when they learned that
because of his learning he had been knighted by Queen Mctoria, and that he
was the head of the most learned scientific body in England, they arose to the
occasion and treated him with the deference due so distinguished a man. Be-
fore he left Greensburg he gave the following letter to the Argus:

"Gree.n-sburg, P.\., 18th .April, 1846.
'Ws many persons have inquired at Greensburg since my return from a visit to the-
quarries in Unity township, what opinion I have come to respecting the curious markings
discovered in 1844 by Dr. King, I shall be obliged if you will state in your journal that
I entirely agree in the views which he has expressed respecting these fossil foot marks.
They are observed to stand out in relief from the lower surface of a slab of sandstone,
which lay some feet below the soil. They closely resemble the tracks of an animal to
which, from the hand-like form of the foot, the name of Cheirotherium has been given
in Europe, where they occur both in Germany and England. It is now universally ad-
mitted that such tracks must have been made by a large reptilian quadruped.

"Their position in the middle of the carboniferous formation has been correctly pointed,
out by Dr. King, for this layer of sandstone in Westmoreland county is decidedly lower
than the main Pittsburgh seam of coal, but there are other smaller seams of coal which
occur still lower in the series. These are the first, and as yet, the only indications that have
been brought to light in any part of the world of the existence of reptiles in rocks of
such high antiquity. We cannot, therefore estimate too highly the scientific interest and
importance of this discovery. I am gentlemen, your obedient servant,

~Ch,\rles Lyell."'

382 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

The importance of this discovery and the real standing it gave Dr. King
in geology has long since been settled. From that time on his reputation was
established. In all extensive or comprehensive works on geology throughout
the world his discovery is recognized and he. given the credit for it.

Dr. King's articles and lectures are uniformly characterized by a simplic-
ity of language that, one does not expect from so learned a man. He succeeded
in conveying information on scientific subjects in popular language that the
.unlearned even could readily understand. He gave great attention to the
fiora and fauna of Western Pennsylvania. In the study of botany he tried
to discover and teach the medical properties of plants. He tried to teach that
a knowledge of organic chemistry was an essential in the true education of a
physician. He was also a thorough microscopist, and the testimony he gave
in criminal cases on the blood-corpuscles found on the clothing of the pris-
oner, aided greatly in the administration of justice.

In 1850 he was appointed a professor of Theory and Practice of Medicine
in the Medical College of Philadelphia, but by reason of ill health he was
compelled to abandon it. Though able to cure others he could not cure him-
self. The disease was inflammation of the stomach and intestines, from which
he suffered severely for years. He was a tall man and well built, but had
never had a robust constitution. On January 2nd, 1852, he sank gently into
a peaceful sleep from which he never awoke. His remains were buried in
St. Clair Cemetery.

When he died he was only thirty-nine years old. What he might have
accomplished had he lived to mature years, no one can tell. As it was, in his
youth almost, by his genius and industry, he connected the name of Westmore-
land with his own, and perpetuated them in the chief libraries, philosophical
societies and universities of Europe, Asia and America. Yet he sleeps in an
unmarked grave, and but a few steps from the grave of another whose services
in military and civil life brought freedom, peace, wealth and glory to his
■country, but whose dust is covered by a mossy headstone now crumbling in
neglect, which was erected by the hand of charity.

Among the eminent physicians of Westmoreland county few stand
higher than Dr. James I. McCormick, of Irwin. As a complete
sketch of the McCormick family appears in the genealogical vol-
umes of this work it is unnecessary to speak particularly of his ancestors.
He was born near Irwin, March 24, 1828, and attended the schools of North
Huntingdon township. In those days it was not an easy matter to secure an
education, for the three-fold reason that teachers were mostly worthless, the
schools were in session but a small part of each year, and most of the settlers
were too poor to provide chothing and spare the time of their children from
work. The fact is that the schools were held in summer and fall for the
simple reason that in the hard winters it was impossible to provide clothing
•of sufficient warmth to protect the children while going to and from school.

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 3S3

If any boy or girl wore more than fifty cents worth of clothing at one time in
those days it was a luxury' altogether out of harmony with the general custom.
Young McCormick, however, acquired knowledge with great ease and man-
aged to get enough to enable him to begin teaching in North Huntingdon
township schools at the early age of seventeen years. At thirteen years of age
he clerked over in Rostraver township, in the store of IMatthew RlcClanahan.
In 1845 he began teaching in the township, and later taught in Greensburg
until 1851. In the meantime he was reciting Latin, Greek, and mathematics
to Rev. William D. Moore, who was at the time one of the ablest teachers
and one of the most scholarly men in Westmoreland county. In later days
he was scarcely less famous as a lawyer in Pittsburgh than he was in the
early days as a preacher and scholar. The training young JMcCormick got
from j\Ir. Aloore enabled him to enter the sophomore class half advanced at
Washington College. He continued to attend college until the end of the
junior year, at which time he made arrangements with the faculty to remain
out the first half of the senior year to engage in teaching that he might re-
habilitate his finances. Presenting himself at the beginning of the second half
he was told that a rule, made after his arrangement with the faculty, would
prevent his entering. By examination he later received his diploma from
Franklin College. He thus stands as one who took his entire course at Wash-
ington, and yet is recognized an alumnus of Franklin. The class in which he
would have graduated at Washington was that of 1855.

His course at college was marked by unusual thoroughness and compre-
hensiveness. His love for the classics was such as some times to obscure the
fact that his greatest natural ability was in the line of logic and mathematics.
Rev. Samuel J. Wilson, then senior professor of the Western Theological
Seminary, and a college mate of Dr. McCormick's, has said that when young
McCormick was in college his proficiency in mathematics was so great that
he assisted students in the classes ahead of his own, as well as those behind
him. When he began with his own son the work of preparing young men for
college, it was a frequent experience that he had no opportunity to note before-
hand the proposition in geometry which was to be demonstrated. This in
nowise disconcerted him, as the solution of geometrical problems seemed with
him an intuitive process.

His public school teaching after he became a student at Washington was
in Johnstown and Greensburg. In 1855 he was appointed by Governor James
Pollock as superintendent of schools in Westmoreland county. He entered
upon this work with his usual energy, and brought to bear upon his duties such
learning and experience as enabled him to raise the standard very materially
during his term of office. He never lost interest in the public school system
until the day of his death. He arranged for the first County Institute at
Greensburg in the year 1855, which was a most successful gathering. It was
while he was county superintendent that he was married to Miss Rachel Long

384 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

Black, a daughter of Samuel and Jane iMansberger Black, of Irwin. At the
conclusion of his term of office as county superintendent he entered the West-
ern Reserve Medical College at Cleveland, taking the winter sessions until
he graduated as a Doctor of Medicine in i860. Immediately after receiving
his degree as a Doctor of Medicine he located in New Florence, but inasmuch
as Dr. James Taylor, of West Fairfield, was just then elected to the legislature,
a partnership was formed which resulted in Dr. McCormick's removal to West
Fairfield, the ceiiter of a large inland population. The partnership continued
only for a brief time, but Dr. McCormick remained in West Fairfield until
April I, 1 87 1. His practice was a most extensive one, extending throughout
the whole Ligonier \'alley, and while the superior attainments of Dr. McCor-
mick fitted him to engage in practice in a larger community, yet here he ob-
tained valuable experience for his later practice. To this day the name of Dr.
McCormick is well known in the Ligonier Valley. No community in the state,
perhaps, has sent out a larger body of young men and women to take the places
of usefulness, and much of this was the result of the encouragement and in-
spiration afforded them by this scholarly physician.

In 1871 he moved back to Irwin, the place of his birth, there to spend the
remaining ten vears of his life. Here his chief life work was accomplished.
Shortly after his return to Irwin he was appointed examining surgeon for
pensions for Westmoreland county, and this brought him in contact with all
the veterans of the civil war who were at that time in receipt of pensions. His
practice from the start was very large and continued so until the time of his
decease. He at once resumed his relations with the public schools by becom-
ing a member and the president of the board of directors of the Irwin schools.
He took a deep interest in maintaining and increasing the efficiency of the
schools, and especially in securing the best possible man as the county super-
intendent. He was the choice of his county for congressman, though in the
final conference between the three counties then constituting the district, he
yielded to the superior claims of the adjoining county, and thus failed to
become the nominee. In November, 1874, he began to prepare his eldest son
for college, giving instruction in Latin, Greek, and mathematics, and though
this son finished his preparation two and a half years later and entered Wash-
ington and Jefferson College, yet he continued to render the same service for
his second son. Dr. John McCormick, and for other youths of the community,
without compensation, until the close of his life. It was not an infrequent
event that he would order his carriage to be brought in order that he might
make the morning calls, but would become so absorbed in some Latin or Greek
author that the noon hour would come and the patient horse be taken to the
stable without a single call being made. It is only fair to say that while this
happened again and again, it never occurred when a serious case demanded
his presence. Dr. McCormick, living in a time less strenuous than the pres-
ent, was extremely conscientious in the employment of his time. That which

^/^UnM^ J ^^k^/y^TT^i.

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 385

was not devoted to his professional labors or to his constant teaching was
given to study and reading. He never took a daily paper nor spent any of his
time in reading trifling happenings. He read from cover to cover the weekly
Tribune and the New York Independent. He read these thoughtfully, taking
time to digest the more important articles. On the return of Joseph Cook
from his studies in Europe in the early seventies, when in Boston he began
his famous Monday lectures, he became also a frequent contributor to the
Independent. Dr. McCormick read these articles and lectures with the great-
est care. Some of these were upon the Trinity, and the writer has seen the
criticisms of Dr. McCormick upon these able productions of Joseph Cook.
He subjected them to the keenest analysis, reducing the arguments to chemical
formulas which he put upon the margin of the page, and sometimes suc-
ceeded, as he thought, in discovering many fallacies in the reasoning of the
famous theologian. One of the scholarly preachers of Irwin in those days was
Dr. John Titzel, now nearing the close of his able and useful life, and it was
the delight of Dr. Titzel and Dr. ^McCormick to engage again and again in
friendly argument, mostly upon theological subjects. Dr. Titzel, knowing the
facts of church history and the principles of theology better than his opponent,
had obviously an advantage, which, however, was just as often overcome by
the accurate logic and unrivaled reasoning powers of Dr. McCormick.

As a physician he certainly was without a superior in Westmoreland
county. Utterly hating sham and pretense, unable to exercise patience with
those who were able to gain a reputation for knowledge which they did not
actually possess, he himself stood as an example of solid worth and real at-
tainment. He brought to bear upon the practice of medicine an extensive
knowledge both of diseases and their remedies. It was impossible for him to be
superficial about anything. He studied each case scientifically, and exercised
his own judgment as to the remedy to be given. As a surgeon he was fairly
skillful, but he never cared for this part of his work. It was in the field of
pure medical practice that he was most eminent, and in which he would have
become more eminent had he been given longer life.

In 1869 his wife passed away, and from the time of her death it was his
purpose to remove from the Valley to some other and larger place. Shortly
after his removal to Irwin he married Margaret Mansberger Black, a sister
of his first wife. - Of ten children born to him, seven grew to adult life. All
these still live except Dr. John McCormick, who died March 25, 1905.

About Thanksgiving, 1880, Dr. McCormick was engaged in preparing a
green skeleton for articulation. He failed to observe an abrasion on his hand,
and came in contact with some of the poisoned flesh, which resulted in blood
poison and which occasioned his death some months later. He continued in
active practice, however, until the middle of summer. Knowing that death
was not far distant, he made up his books most carefully and prepared for the
final summons. On August 18, 1881, he passed away, in Philadelphia, where

386 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

he had gone for treatment in hope of restoration. In his rehgious behefs, he
claimed the right to think for himelf, and his views were not in the strictest
accord with any particular denomination. He died, however, an earnest believer
in Jesus Christ. Honest, sincere, conscientious, thoughtful, he insisted upon
liberty of opinion, and was willing to extend this privilege to his fellows. He
never wronged a man, sought conscientiously to give every one his due, was
broad in his sympathies, liberal in his opinions, not censorious, willing that the
other man should differ from him without its interfering with friendship, and
with all stood in the forefron. of progress and enlightenment. He was a valu-
able man in the community, and in his life acccomplished much of good for his
fellow men.

The Act of Assembly, of 1881, provided for the registration of all physi-
cians in the State. We give below an alphabetical list of all who have since
been registered as practitioners in Westmoreland County :

George Bonbright Anderson, Latrobe, Jefferson Med. Col. March 10, 1877.
Daniel Abraham After, Greensburg, Filed Statement.
Jacob T. Ambrose, Ligonier. Long Island Col., June 29, 1870.
David Alters, Parnassus, Jefferson Med. Col., March g, 1861.
James White Anawalt, Greensburg, Jefferson Med. Col., March 10, 1855.
Perry Green Anderson, Scottsdale, Physio-Med. Col., O., Feb. 4. 1869.
J. G. Alter, Parnassus, Western Univ. of Pa., July 18, 1895.
N. Abbaticchio, Western Pa. Med. Col., July 20, 1896.
C. D. Ambrose, Ligonier, Western Pa. Med. Col., July 30, 1900.
L. S. Aspey, Smithton, Western Pa. Med. Col., July 31. 1899.
John A. Armstrong, Leechburg, Jefferson Med. Col., March 9, 1867.
S. E. Ayars, Philadelphia, Eclectic Col. of N. Y., March 3, 1884.
H. E. Almes, Murrysville, Western Pa. Med. Col, March 27. 1890.
H. E. Alfas, Latrobe, Western Pa. Med. Col., March 24, 1887.

Robert Robinson Bowman, Youngstown, Jefferson Med. Col., March 12, 1878.

James Logan Brown, Pleasant Unity, filed statement.

Alpheus Arlington Bush, Merwin, Bellevue Hos. Med. Col.. March i, 1875.

Hamilton Keeley Beatty, Parnassus, Jefferson Med. Col., March 13, 1S71.

James Mortimer Bennett, Donegal Twp., Filed statement.

Norman G. Berkey, Hempfield Twp., Jefferson Med. Col, March 12. 1878.

Morgan Rhees Banks, Livermore, filed statement.

Samuel Edgar Burchfield. Latrobe, Un. of Michigan Hom. Med. Col., June 30, 1881.

Daniel Ellwood Beltz, Ligonier, Un. of Medicine & Surgery, May, 10. 1865.

J. W. Bair, New Stranton, Western Pa. Med. Col., July 18, 1895.

Frank J. Brock, Stahlstown, Medico-chi., June 16, 1894.

Ida E. Blackburn, Greensburg, Women's ^led. Col., Phila., July 18, 1895.

James E. Blair, Beatty, Un. of Penna., July 20, 1896.

P. A. Brown, New Kensington, Western Pa. Med. Col., July 20. 1896.

Wm. J. Bierer, Export, Western U. of Pa., July 28. 1897.

Clarence Beacom, Latrobe, Jefferson Med. Col., July 28, 1897.

John W. Barclay. Ligonier. Jefferson Med. Col., July 28. 1897.

J. F. Black. Jeannette, Medico-Chi. Col., July 28, 1897.

J. .\. Boale, Vandergrift, Western U. of P., July 28, 1897.

A. J. Bearer, New Kensington, Col. of Med. & Surg., Cincinnati, July 16, 1898.

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 38;

C. E. Bair, Arona, Western U. of P., July 30, 1890.

C. G. Burheen, Jeanette, Western Pa. Med. Col., July 22, 1899.
H. A. Barclay, Latrobe, N. Ind. Col. of Phar , June 30, 1903.
A. A. Beacom, Keckburg, Western U. of P., July 30, i903-

L. J. C. Bailey, Greensburg, University of Mich., July 20, 1896.

Richard W. Bell, Stauffer, Cleveland Med. Col., 1891.

T. W. Blakeslee, Vandergrift, Electric Med. Co., Pa., etc., 1899.

George Bowman, Irwin, University of Mich., Jan. 20, 1901.

Hugh B. Barclay, Greensburg, Hahnemann Med. Col., March 15, 1901.

D. B. Brady, Cowansburg, Columbus Med. Col., Feb. 28, 1882.

C. W. Bank, New Alexandria, Toledo Med. Col., July 10, 1883.
J. M. Blaine, Livermore, Jefferson Med. Col., March 12, 1881.
J. A. Burgoon, filed statement, June 10, 1885.
J. H. Boyd, Mt. Pleasant, Eel. Med. Col., Cinn., June 2, 1885.

E. W. Blackburn, Stahlstown, Eel. Med. Col., Cinn., June 2, 1885.
G. E. Bair, Mendon, Western Reserve Col., O., March 3, 1886.

G. W. Bane, Greensburg, University of Md., March 17, 1885.

H. S. Bossart, Latrobe, Jefferson Med. CcJ., April 2, 1886.

Katharine Burrie, Bradford, Luzerne, Switzerland., 1864.

N. J. Bigley, Suterville. West. Reserve Col., O., March 7, 1888.

Ed. Barnes, Bolivar, filed statement, July 20, 1888.

Wm. C. Byers, Jefferson Med. Col., March 9, 1872.

E. H. Byers, Greensburg, Jefferson Med. Col., April 31, 1889.

W. H. Brown, New Stranton, University of Md., April, 1889.

J. A. Baker, Saltsburg, Jefferson Med. Col., April 2, 1890.

A. A. Bancroft, Greensburg, Hahnemann Med. Col., 1892.
C. S. Bradfute, Derry, Jefferson Med. Col., April 5. 1887.
Adam Bryan, New Stranton, filed statement, July, 1893.

Jame? L. Crawford, Greensburg, Jefferson Med. Col.. March 7, 1868.
John S. Crawford, Greensburg, Hahnemann Med. Col., March 10, 1875.
James C. Cline, Derry Sta., Jefferson Med. Col., March 13, 1880.
William J. Clarke, New Florence, Jefferson Med. Col., March 28, 1849.
Joseph L. Cook, New Alexandria, Jefferson Med. Col., March 9, :858.
Bruce L. Calhoun, Parnassus, Cinn. Col. of Med. & Sur., June ig, 1876.
Joseph Hiester Clark, Mt. Pleasant, filed statement.
Snmuel C. Campbell, Stahlstown, Eel. Med. Inst., Feb. 6, 1879.
Wm. B. Cosgrove, New Derry, Col. of Phy. & Sur., March 3, 1880.
Hugh J. Call, Mt. Pleasant, Un. of Pa., July 18, 1895.
W. H. Cowan, Webster, Western Pa. Med. Col., July 31, 1889.
John D. Caldwell, University of Pa.. July 22, 1889.

B. F. Crise, S. Huntingdon Twp., Jefferson Med. Col., April 2, 1883.
E. M. Clifford, Scottdale, Jefferson Med. Col., March 31, 1882.

J. C. Cort, Greensburg, University of Md., March 17, 1885.

C. H. Clifford, Irwin, Jefferson Med. Col., April 5, 1887.
James S. Carson, Smithton, Jefferson Med. Col., April $, 1887.
Thomas Carson. Scottdale, Jefferson Med. Col., March 10, 1865.
Frank Cowan, Greensburg, Georgetown Col., March 2, 1869.

A. H. Coven, Hempfield Twp., filed statement, July 31, 1901.
S. M. Crosby, Mt. Pleasant, Western Pa. Med. Col., March 28, 1889.
Chas. P. Conway, Livermore, Western Pa. Med. Col., March 28, 1889.
Wm. N. Cunningham, Livermore, Jefferson Med. Col., March 12, 1874.

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

J. D. Casey, Latrobe, Jefferson Med. Col., April 27. 1892.

T. P. Cole, Greensburg, filed statement, Nov. 9, 1893.

R. E. Conner, New Florence, Western Pa. Med. Col., March 23, 1893.

Henry L. Donnelly, Latrobe, Jefferson Med. Col., March 9, 1853.

Samuel H. Decker, Nev,- Derry, Mediums Med. Asso., Aug. 19, 1880.

Joseph S. Dodd, Parnassus, Jefferson Med. Col., March 11, 1875.

1.. M. Donaldson, West Newton, Baltimore Dental Col., May i, 1897.

John D. Dickey, Mt. Pleasant, Hahnemann Col., Phila., June 30, 1899.

Wm. Doncaster, Jeanette, Eclectic Col., Cinn., July 22, 1899.

H. W. Day, Monessen, Chicago Med. Col, July 31, 1899.

C. A. Donaldson, West Fairfield, Un. of Wooster, Feb. 4, 1885.

G McCrady Dickson, Adamsburg, Western U. of P., August 4, 1902.

H. McCall Duncan. Mt. Pleasant, West Va. Med. Col., March 24, 1892.

Alvin St. C. iDaggette, Shaner Sta., Cleveland Med. Col., March 2, 1881.

James R. Ewing, Oakland X Roads, Gin. Col. of Med. & Sur., July 30, 1870.

James Duncan Evans, Latrobe, Eel. Med. Col. of Cinn., Feb. 7, 1871.

John H. Ewing, Delmont, Col. of P. & S., July 16, 1898.

Wm. E. Everett, New Stranton, Western Pa. Med. Col., July 30, 1900.

Reuben Eisaman, Latrobe, Jefferson Med. Col., April 5, 1887.

S. P. Earnest, Salem, Western Pa. Med. Col. March 27, 1890.

W. S. Earnest, Latrobe, Ind. Eel. Col, Feb. 27, 1890.

C. D. B. Eisaman, Adamsburg, Jefferson Med. Col, March, 1871.

James Ayres Fulton, Delmont, filed statement, 1864.

Ralph Erskin Fulton, Mt. Pleasant, Jefferson Med. Col, March 12, 181

George S. Foster, Greensburg, Hom. Med. Col of Pa., March 3, 1859.

Charles D. Fortney, Scottdale, filed statement, 1871.

James P. Frye, Webster, Col. of P. & S., March 4, 1880.

L. L. Fitchhorn, Avonmore, Western Pa. Med. Col, May 29, 1902.

H. C. Fuller, Latrobe, Jefferson Med. Col, April 2, 1885.

R. G. Finley, Scottdale, Hom. Hospital Col, March 9, 1881.

W. L. Fenn^ll, Delmont, Col. of P. & S., Bait., March 15, 1886.

Wm. Frederick, Merwin, Western Pa. Med. Col, March 23, 1888.

W. H. Fetter, Scottdale, Western Pa. Med. Col, March 27, 1890.

John F. Fox, Adamsburg, Eel Me4. Inst., Cinn., June 12, 1891.

David Gildner, Bolivar, filed statement, 1871.

Robert F. Gaut, Mt. Pleasant Twp., Detroit Med. Col, Feb. 29, 1876.

Lewis S. Goodman, Mt. Pleasant, Eel. Med. Inst., Cinn., May 7, 1878.

W. W. Grove, New Florence, Rush Med. Col, Chicago, July 28, 1897.

John W. Goodsell, New Kensington, Pultic Col, Cinn., June, 25, 1898.

S. C. Gorman, Larimer, Baltimore Med. Col, July 20, i8g6.

M. L. Glenn, Un. of Michigan, July 22, 1899.

A. A. Guffy, Smithton, Western Pa. Med. Col, July 28, 1897.

J. D. Greaver, New Alexandria, U. of P., July 30, 1900.

J. O. Grove, Ligonier, Jefferson Med. Col and Un. of S. Tennessee, 1904,

Lida Grant, Speers, Col. of Med. & Sur., Chi., May, 1903.

E. B. Gleason, Greensburg, U. of P., March 15, 1878.

W. T. Greenfield, Mt. Pleasant, Miami Med. Col, March r. 1883.

H. S. George, Scottdale, statement filed, June 23, 1887.

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 389

J. M. Grubbs, Latrobe, Miami Med. Col., Cinn., March 11, 1886.

T. J. Grace, Greensburg, Col. of P. & S., Chi., Feb. 26, 1889.

J. W. Gilmore, Paintersville, Physio, Med. Inst., Cinn., Feb. 18, 1874.

B. G. Guthrie, Irwin, U. of P., March 14, 1867.

O. W. H. Glover, New Kensington, Jefferson Med. Col., April 15, 1891.

Chas. M. George, New Kensington, P. & S. of Baltimore, April 14, 1892.

R. Greno, Jeanette, Kan. Horn. Med. Col., March 15, 1893-

W. J. Gardner, Irwin, U. of Pa., May 10, 1890.

L. T. Gilbert, Alverton, Western Pa. Med. Col., July 20, 1896.

Charlotte E. Goodman, Mt. Pleasant, Wowen's Med. Col., Phil., May 10, 1893.

Robert B. Hammer, Greensburg, U. of Pa., March 15, 1881.
Oliver W. Howell, Mt. Pleasant Twp., W. Reserve Col., Hudson, O., March 6,
George L. Humphreys, Irwin, Jefferson Med. Col, March II, 1874.
Martin D. Heath, Mt. Pleasant, Pulte. Col. of Cinn., March 4, 1880.
Ed. A. Hoffman, Delmont, Jefferson Med. Col., July, 1896.
B. L. Heintzelman, Penn Sta., W. U. of Pa., Dec. 24, 1897.
M. W. Horner, Mt. Pleasant, Jefferson Med. Col., July 28, 1897.
Wm. D. Hunter, Monessen, Col. of P. & S., Bal., Dec. 20. 1901.
Jas. B. Harmer, Philadelphia, Jefferson Med. Col., March 18, 1886.
Henry H. Brown, West Newton, Univ. Col. of Md., July 30, 1903.
J. F. Hebrank, Adamsburg, Univ. of Md., March 15, 1883.
James W. Harvey, Salina, Jefferson Med Col., March 29, 1884.
J. W. Hughes, Latrobe, Cinn. Col. of Med., June 12, 1863.

D. L. Hutton, Jr., Shaner Sta., Col. of P. & S., of Md., March 15, 1887.
U. O. Heilman, Leechburg, Col. of P. & S. of Md., March i, 1881.

R. P. Hunter, Leechburg, Jefferson Med Col, 1869.

M. C. Hunter, Leechburg, filed statement, Feb. 11, 1888.

S. W. Hunter, Mt. Pleasant, Col. of P. & S., Bal., Feb. 27, 1874.

M. C. Householder, Oakland, Jefferson Med. Col., April 4, 1888.

Walter L. Harrison, Jeanette, Western Pa. Med. Col., March 22, a888.

Hugh Henry, Jeanette, Med. Col. of Cleveland, June 3, 1883.

Wm. J. Haymaker, Delmont, Jefferson Med. Col., April 21, 1890.

E. R. Hebrank, Adamsburg, Jefferson Med. Col., April 2, 1890. I
James Harkins, Mt. Pleasant, Eel. Med. Inst., Cinn.. 1886.

C. F. Hough. Livermore, Western Pa. Med. Col., March 27, 1891.
Robt. A. Herwick, Smithton, Columbus Med. Col., April 27, 1897.

S. Hindman, Jr., Parnassus, Col. of P. & S., Bal., March i, 1881.

A. B, Hughes, Madison. Col. of P. & S., Bal., April, 1803.

W. T. Huston, Greensburg, Western Pa. Med. Col., March 26, 1891.

B. C. Irwin, New Alexandria. Western Pa. Med. Col., March 28. 1889.

William A. Jamison, Cowansburg, Jefferson Med. Col.. March 12, 1879.

H. D. Jameson. Greensburg, U. of Pa.. July, 1885.

J. R. Jack, New Alexandria. Jeff. Med. Col., July 20, 1896.

J. B. Johnson, Ligonier. Western Pa. Med. Col., July 22. 1899.

J. M. Jackson, Bridgeport, filed statement, 1902.

M. R. Jamison, Irwin, Pul. Col. of Cinn., March 2, 1881.

F. W. Johnson, Philadelphia, filed statement. May 6, 1885.

W. W. Johnston. Scottdale. Bellevue Hos. & Col., March 10, 1881.

D. C. Jordan, Derry, Eclectic Med. Inst., Cinn., June 26. 1875.

390 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

Logan M. Kifer, Irwin, Jefferson Med. Col. March 5, 18/8.

I. P. Klingensmith, Derry, Jefferson Med. Col., March 11. 1875.

George W. Kern, West Newton, Hahnemann Med. Col., March 11, 1878.

Wm. John K. Kline, Greensburg, Long Island Col. Hos., July 2, 1863.

James T. Krepps, Webster, Jefferson Med. Col., March 11, 1875.

James H. Kelley, Pleasant Unity, filed statement, 1871.

Joseph W. B. Kamerer, Greensburg, Jefferson Med. Col, March 13, 1871.

F. C. Katherman, Latrobe, Jefferson Med. Col., July 30, 1901.

Alex. R. Kidd, West Newton, Western U. of Pa., July 28. 1897-

D. M. Koontz, New Kensington, Jefferson Med. Col., April 3, 1889.

A, B. Krebs, Bolivar, Cinn. Col. of M. & S., Feb., 1886.

M'. S. Kuhns, Mt. Pleasant.

Wm. H. King, Fairfield, Jefferson Med. Col., March 9, 1870.

H. F. Kimmel, Ligonier, Western Pa. Med. Col., March 22. 1888.

T. A. Klingensmith, Jeannette, Western Pa. Med. Col.

George C. Kneedler, Ruffsdale, Western Pa. Med. CoL, ]\Iarch 24, 1892.

W. O. Keffer, Ligonier, Georgia Col. Ec. & Med. S., 1888.

A. S. Kauffman, New Kensington, Baltimore Col. of Med., March 30, 1893

H. D. Kessler, Vandergrift, Hahnemann Med. Col., June 29, 1901.

Tames H. Laffeity. New Florence, Col. of P. & S., Bal., March i, 1881.

Henry G. Lomison, Greensburg, Jefferson Med. Col., March 6, 1852.

Hugh W. Love, Harrison City, Eel. Med. Col. of Pa., March 25, 1880.

Joseph S. Long, Circleville, W. Reserve Col. of O., March 4, 1868.

Isaac N. Leyda, Manor, Conferred by U. of P., March I2, 1875.

A. S. Low, Greensburg, filed statement, 1893.

A. H. Lewis, Jeanette, Phila. Med. Col., March 12, 1889.

John F. Long, Harrison City, U. of P., June 16, 1894.

John D. Long, Greensburg, U. of P., June 16, 1898.

James Q. Lemmon, Derry Twp. U. of P., March 15, 1882.

Charles B. Leitzel, Derry, Jefferson Med. Col., March 10, 1887.

Wm. M. Lauffer, Harrison City, Western Pa. Med. Col., March 26, 1891.

M. W. Livingston, Latrobe, filed statement, 1897.

T. H. Lamhead. West Newton, Jefferson Med. Col.. April 21, 1886.

John D. Milligan, Madison, Bellevue Hos. Med. Col.. March i, 1876.

Matthew W. Miller, Ligonier, Cinn. Col. of M. A. S., Feb. 15, 1872.

David W. Miller, Adamsburg, W. Reserve Med. Col., 1881.

Benjamin R. Mitchell, Scottdale, Jefferson Med. Col., March 10, 1887.

James S. Miller, Derry. Jefferson Med. Co!., March 10, 1855.

John R. Moore, Burrell, Jefferson Med. Col., March 11, 1854.

James I. Marchand, Irwin, Jefferson Med. Col., March 8, 1862.

Alexander B. Mitchell, Harrison City, Jefferson Med. Col., March 4, 1872.

Florence L. March, Mt. Pleasant, Jefferson Med. Col., March 7, 1868.

W. S. Madden, Latrobe, Jefferson Med. Col., March 15, 1876.

John W. Morrison, Dougal, filed statement.

John L. Marchand, Irwin, U. of P., June 16, 1894.

Wm. C. Meaner, Greensburg, U. of P., June 13. 1895.

William S. Marsh, Mt. Pleasant, Jefferson Med. Col., 1894.

Robert H. Moore, Derry, Kentucky School of Med., Oct. 20, 1894.

Mary L. Montgomery, Mt. Pleasant, Med. Col. of Phila., July 18, 1895.

T. W. Moran, Stahlstown, Jefferson Med. CoL. July 22, 1899.

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 391

F. G. Miller, Tarr Sta., Western Pa. Med. Col., July 28, 1897.

John A. Metsger, Latrobe, U. of P., Dec. 21, 1896.

H. Y. Messec, Greensburg, Ohio Med. Un., Aug. 15. 1900.

J. M. Manigal, Jeanette, U. of Md., 1886.

H. S. Mershon, New Kensington, Bellevue Hospital ]March, 1875.

John D. Mullen, Youngstown, Western Pa. Med. Col., April 26, 1898.

W. J. Middleton, Greensburg, Jefferson Med. Col., 1879.

E. B. Marsh, Mt. Pleasant, Jefferson Med. Col, April 27, 1892.

L. R. Metzgar, Latrobe, Long Island Hos., June 28, 1866.

C. C. Miller, Texas Village, filed statement, Feb. 15, 1884.

E. S. Miller, Parnassus, U. of P., March 15, 1878.

George W. Miller, Hempfield Twp., Jefferson Med. Col, March 29, 1884.

A. D. Miller, Manor Station, U. of Pa., May i, 1885.

S. G. Miller, Bolivar, Western Reserve Un., March 15, 1882.

J. M. Miller, Cokeville, Cinn. Col. of M. & S., June 2, 1875.

A. H. Myers, Mt. Pleasant, U. of Maryland, March i, 1882.

H. B. Mathoit, West Newton, Jefferson Med. Col, March 6, 1852.

John R. Morrow, Jeanette, Jefferson Med. Col, April 4, 1888.

R. C. Moorehead, Manor, Baltimore IMed. Col, March, 1886.

W. H. Myers, Meyersdale, Md. Col. of Phila., April 2, 1862.

J. C. Miller, Manor, Jefferson Med. Col, April 2, 1885.

John E. Moore, New Kensington, Cleveland Med. Col, March 23, 1892.

W. R. Miller, Bolivar, Western Pa. Med. Col, March 24, 1892.

J. S. Mullen, Mt. Pleasant, Penna. Col, April 3, 1896.

William D. McGowan, Ligonier, U. of P., April 5, 1851.

Martson M. McColly, Ligonier, Jefferson Med. Col, March 12, 1870.

D. W. McConaughy, Latrobe, Jefferson Med. Col, March 3, 1858.
Robert McConaughy, Mt. Pleasant, Jefferson Med. Col, March 11, 1875.
James H. McLaughlin, New Salem. Cinn. Col, of M. & S., Feb. 17, 1873.
William McWilliams, Merwin, filed statement.

John N. McCune, Suterville, W. Reserve Col Ohio, 1878.

James McConaughy, Mt. Pleasant, Jefferson Med. Col, March 20. 1845-

Francis McConaughy, Mt. Pleasant, Jefferson Med. Col, March 24, 1846.

R. E. L. McCormick, Irwin, W. Pa. Med. Col, July 13, 1903.

J. R. McCausland, Greensburg, Phila. Col. of Phar., Feb. 6, 1886.

George T. McNish, Alverton, Western U. of P.. July 22, 1899.

S. M. McDermott, Greensburg, U. of Phila., 1867.

John McCormick, Irwin, W. Reserve Un., Cle., March 15, 1882.

William McNeal, Smithton, Un. of New York City, March 9, 1866.

J. I. McKee, Penn. Station, Miami Col, March, 1876.

George B. McCullough, Irwin, Un. of New York, March i, 1885.

W. J. McDonald, Scottdale, Jefferson Med. Col. & Washington & Jeff. Col, i8

R. C. McCurdy, Livermore, Col. of P. & S., Md., March i, 1882.

H. B. McDonnell, Penn Station, Col. of P. & S.. March 6, 1852.

Alex. McLain, Bradenville, Western Pa. Med. Col, March 22, 1888.

C. A. McCaskey, Bolivar, Un. of Wooster, O., Feb. 24, 1876.

James L. McDonald, Jeannette, Am. Eel Co. of Md., May 22, 1879.

F. G. McKloven, Ligonier, Western Pa. Med. Col, March 24, 1892.
T. E. McConnell, Parnassus, Western Pa. Med. Col, March 26, 1891.
W. H. McCafferty, Manor, Western Pa. Med. Col, March 28, 1889.

F. C. McMorris, New Kensington, U. of Pa., May, 1892.

392 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

C. E. McCune. Jacob's Creek, Western Pa. Med. Col. July 28, 1897.
W. M. McWilliams, Penn Sta., Western Pa. Med. Col., March 26, 1891.
Robert McClellan, Irwin, Jefferson Med. Col., April 4, 1888.
E. D. McKee, Penn Station, Western Pa. Med. Col., 1889.

S, W. Newman, Scottdale, filed statement, Nov. 11, 1884.

George E. Nichols, N. Belle Vernon, Physio-Med. Inst., Cinn., March i, 18

Hugh Nicolay, Smithston. filed statement, 1866.

James P. Orr, West Bethany. U. of Mich.. March 26, 1879-
Lemuel Oftutt, Penn Station, U. of Md., Feb. 29, 1876.
J. D. Orr, Leechbnrg, Jefferson Med. Col., April 2, 1885.
W. B. Orr, Scottdale. Jefferson Med. Col., April, 1883.

Alexander H. Peebles, Youngtown, Cinn. Col. of M. & S., Feb. 17, 1876.

George B. Porch, New Florence, Jefferson Med. Col., March 13, 1871.

Robert A. Pritchard, Kecksburg.

James Patterson, Baltimore Med. Col., Dec. 28, i8g8.

Iden M. Portser, Greensburg, U. of Pa., Dec. 28, 1898.

E. N. Piper, New Kensington, Aug. 4, 1902.

H. G. Painter, Irwin, Western Pa. Med. Col., July 30, 1903.

James M. Patton, Kelly Sta., Col. of P. & S., Bal. Dec, 1885.

W. C. Park, Manor, W. Reserve Un., March 16, 1882.

W. R. Poole, Donegal, Eel. Col. of Cinn., Nov. 19, 1879.

J. A. Peebles, Youngtown, Cinn. Col. of M. & S., Feb. 26, 1885.

James K. Park, Manor, W. Reserve Med. Col., March i, 1852.

T. P. Painter, Irwin, Jefferson Med. Col., April 5, 1887.

N. W. Patton, Smithton, Jefferson Med. Col.. March 29, 1884.

Frederick H. Patton, W. Newton, Jefferson Med. Col, March 10, 1866.

George Parks, Murrysville, Bal. Col. of P. & S., March 4, 1879.

W. D. Pfontz, Irwin, filed statement, Oct. 22, 1887.

W. L. Plotner, Mt. Pleasant, W. Pa. Med. Col., March 22, 1888.

F. L. Portzer, Greensburg, Western Pa. Med. Col., March 22, 1888.
C. C. Porter. Greensburg, Jefferson Med. Col., April 4, 1888.

S. C. Pigman, Mt. Pleasant, Jefferson Med. Col., March 12, 1879-

M. Patterson, Greensburg, Western Pa. Med. Col., Aug. S, 1887.

E. E. Patton, New Kensington, Western Pa. Med. Col., March 28, i88g.

W. F. Peairs, Suterville, Col. of P. & S., Bal.

W. F. Peairs, Suterville, filed statement, March, 1893.

L. J. Petz, Latrobe, Phila, Un. of Med., Feb. 11, 1879.

Wilson J. Rugh, Franklin Twp.. Columbus Med. Col., Feb. 27, 1877.

Joseph H. Richie, West Newton, W. Reserve Med. Col., Feb. 10, 1867.

Alexander J. Rogers, Scottdale, filed statement, 1871.

John Q. Robinson, West Newton, Un. of N. Y. City, 1849.

John E. Rigg, Stonerville, Col. of P. & S., Bal., March 4, 1879.

Jacob Welty Rugh, New Alexandria, Jefferson Med. Col. March 8, 1851.

Joseph Robertson, Rostraver Twp., Columbus Med ,Col., March 3, 1881.

C. G. Robinson, Jeannette, Cleveland Med. Col., June 24, 1897.

L. W. Raison, Foxburg, Ohio Med. Col., March, 1884.

L. T. Russell, Ruffsadle, Physio-Med. Inst., O., Feb. 27, 1882.

C. B. Rugh, New Alexandria. Jefferson Med. Col. April 2, 1885.

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 393

J. H. Ringer, Salem, W. Pa. Med. Col., March 22, 1888.
J. Q. Robinson, West Newton, Wash. & Jeff. Col., 1893.

Albert W. Strickler, Scottdale, Jefferson Med. Col., March 9, 1871.

Bernard C. Seaton, Bolivar, Jefferson Med. Col., March 12, 1873.

Millard Sowash, Irwin, Jefferson Med. Col., March II, 1874.

J.ewis T. Smith, Pleasant Unity, Jefferson Med. Col., March 4, 1876.

Uriah M. Snyder, New Salem, Bellevue Hos. Col., N. Y., March i, 1872.

Samuel S. Stewart, Stewarts Sta., Jefferson Med. Col., March 9, 1861.

N. E. Silsley, Scottdale, U. of Pa., June 16, 1894.

Chas. E. Snyder, S. Greensburg, Bellevue Hos. Col., N. Y., 1894.

H. J. Stauffer, Jeannette, Jefferson Med. Col., July, 1895.

]\I. A. Sutton, Avonmore, W. Pa. Med. Col., July 18, 1895.

L. B. R. Smith, Jeannette, U. of N. Y. City, July 18, 1895

C. C. Sandels, Jeannette, W. Pa. Med. Col., July 20, 1896.
Chas. M. Sloan, Madison, W. Pa. Med. Col., July 28, 1897

E. W. Steens, Jacobs Creek, Bal. Col. of P. & S., Dec 13, 1899.
J. E. S.tute, Stewarts Sta., W. Pa. Med. Col, July 28, 1897.
Thomas St. Clair, Latrobe, W. Pa. Med. Col, July 31, 1901

F. R. Shoemaker, Jeannette, Med. Chi. Col., Jan. 18, 1895.
Nannie M. Sloan, Latrobe, Eel. Med. Ins., June 24, 1899.

H. J. Stockberger, Greensburg, W. U. of Pa., Sept. 12, 1904.
J. P. Strickler, Scottdale, Jefferson Med. Col., May 15, 1901.

G. W. Sherbins, Scottdale, Pul.-Med. Col., O., June 4, 1878.
J. G. Stewart, Markle, Bal. Col. of P. & S., March i, 1882
G. S. Sutton, Mendon, Jefferson Med. Col., April 2, 1883.
L. V. Sutton, Webster, Un. of N. Y. City, March 13, 1883.

J. H. Scroggs, Cook Twp.. filed statement, Feb. 10, 1884.

O. T. Stauffer, Mt. Pleasant. Western Reserve Un., Feb. 28, 1883.

Wm. F. Sheridan, Stewarts Sta., Jefferson Med. Col., March 13, 1871.

A. S. Sherrick, Ruffsdale, W. Reserve Col., Feb. 25, 1885.

L. C. Shecengort, Rural, Bal. Col. of P. & S., March 15, 1886.

J. W. Shelor, Stonerville, Long Island Col., June 2, 1886.

J. W. Shelr, Stonerville, Long Island Col., June 2, 1886.

L. Seaton, Stauffer, Bal. Col. of P. & S., March 15, 1886.

P. J. Stauffer, Mt. Pleasant, Eel. Med. Inst., Jan. 19, 1876.

F. M. Stone, Ruffsdale, Jeff. Med. Col., March 11, 1875.

J. S. Silvis, Hempfield Twp., Western Pa. Med. Col., March 27, 1890.

J. L. Shields, Derry, Western Pa. Med. Col., March 27, 1890.

E. K. Strawn, Madison, Ft. Wayne Med. Col., March, 1880.

H. W. Sweigert, Whitney, Un. of N. Y. City, March 27, 1890.

Chas. H. Schock, Med. Chi.. Col. of Pa., April, 1887.

John D. Shull, Derry, Col. of P. & S., Feb. 28, 1887.

W. N. Smith, Youngstown, Western Pa. Med. Col., March 24, 1892.

E. C. Stuart, New Kensington, Bal. Col. of P. & S., March 15, 1887.

A. H. Stewart, Greensburg, Jefferson Med. Col., April 27, 1892.

H. C. Shipley, Greensburg, Winchester Med. Col., May 29, 1849.

D. E. Sloan, Greensburg, filed statement, March 27, 1893.
C. A. Shirely, Manor, U. of Pa., May 10, 1893.

W. Stengel, Jeannette. Mia. Med. Col., 1884.

Lewis Sutton, Mendon, Jefferson Med. Col.. March 29, 1848.

Theo. Schenider, New Kensington, Med. Col.. Berlin. Gmy., 1867.

394 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

Jacob Sell, Greensburg, Western Pa. Med. Col., March 28, 1889.

James Taylor, West Fairfield, Jefferson Med. Col., March 8, 1851.

Jacob S. Taylor, West Fairfield, Elec. In. of Cinn., June 7, 1881.

Amos O. Taylor, New Salem, Eel. Med. Col., Dec. 29, 1879.

Enoch W. Townsend, Greensburg, Horn. Med. Col., Cle., Feb. 19, 1853.

Darwin D. Taylor, Irwin, filed statement.

John C. Taylor, Irwin, filed statement.

H. W. Tittle, New Florence, Western U. of P., July 18, 1895.

J. R. Tillbrook, Claridge, Western U. of P., Dec, 1901.

D. O. Todd, Stewarts Station, July 20, 1896.

J. R. Thompson, Monnessen, U. of Pa., 1894.

William H. Tassell, Scottdale, Bal. Col. of P. & S., 1880.

Chas. E. Taylor, Irwin, Un. of N. Y. City, March I, 1882.

William H. Taylor, Irwin, Un. of N. Y. City, March 11, 1884.

J. M. Taylor, West Fairfield, Bal. Col. of P. & S., April 2, 1885.

L. C. Thomas, Bradenville, Med. Col. of P. & S., March, 1887.

W. K. Trittle, Jefferson Med. Col., June, 1872.

D. R. Torrence, Scottdale, Jefferson Med. Col., March 22, 1879.
M. F. Toner, Derry, Jefferson i\Ied. Col., March 2, 1893.

H. C. Updegraff, Bolivar, U. of Pa., July 22, 1899.

Bennett H. Van Kirk, West Newton, Jefferson Med. Col., March 12. i:
G. M. Van Dyke. West Newton, Jefferson Med. Col., April 4, 1888.
William Vogel, New Kensington, filed statement, 1893.

David Emmett Welsh, Latrobe, Jefferson Med. Col., March 12, 1878.
Frank J. Wethington, Livermore, Long Island Col. Hos., June 6, 1876.
S. G. Wertz, Greensburg, Un. of Michigan, July 18, 1895.
V. J. McC. White, New Kensington, Jefferson Med. Col. July 20. 1896.
S. S. Willson, Kecksburg, Western Pa. Med. Col., July 20, 1896.

A. Waide, Scottdale, Med. Col. of Ind., June 24, 1899.

W. J. Walker. Greensburg. Western Pa. Med. Col., July 30, 1900.
S. J. Wireback. Monessen, U. of Pa., March 14, 1866.
J. C. Wakefield, Grapeville, Western Reserve Col., 1818.
R. S. Whitworth, Donegal, Jefferson Med. Col., 1877.

E. P. Weddell, Hawkins Sta., Western Reserve Col., 1894.
W. R. Wilson, Mt. Pleasant, Eel. Med. Col., June, 1884.

J. S. Watt, La Colle, Jefferson Med. Col., March 7, 1881.

F. McFerren Walker, Manor, U. of Pa., March 12, 1874.

B. F. Walker, Ligonier, Jefferson Med. Col., April 2, 1885.
A. J. Wilson, Glenhope, U. of Pa., March 22, 1876.

E. E. Wible, Greensburg, Western Pa. Med. Col.. March 26, 1891.

A. G. Young, Delmont. Jefferson Med. Col., 1892.

\\L K. Young, Greensburg. Bal. Col. of P. & S., March i, 1881.

CHAPTER XXV

Westmoreland Press.

For more than a quarter of a century after the formation of the county there
was no newspaper pubhshed within our present limits. On July 26, 1786, the
Pittsburgh Gazette was first issued by John Scull and Joseph Hall. Pittsburgh
was then in Westmoreland county, and all of our county printing was done
there. Prior to that there had been no printing press in western Pennsylvania.
All county matter, sale bills, writs, etc., were written with a pen. Even after
the establishment of the Gazette our public printing was probably very limited.
The Gazette had undoubtedly a very meager circulation in our county.

The Farmers' Register was the first paper published in Greensburg. It
was issued and edited by John M. Snawden and William McCorkle, and its
first issue was May 24, 1799. The editor, Snowden, was a native of Philadel-
phia, and did not prosper here, though he remained in the business ten years.
In 1808 he sold his paper to W. S. Graham. Snowden remained here for some
years afterwards, and filled various offices in the county. He then removed to
Pittsburgh and took upon himself the management of the Sunday Mercury,
which was the legitimate ancestor of the Pittsburgh Post. Snowden was a
professional printer and editor. He was a relative of the Laird family, which
has since given several generations to the newspaper work in Westmoreland
county.

The Fanners' Register, under the management of Graham, became The
Greensburg and Indiana Register, and still later The Westmoreland and Indi-
ana Register. It then served both counties, and until after 181 1 was the only
means of advertising in either of them. The name of the paper was not very
material in those days. The name was set up in large type, and occasionally,
when job work was very brisk, they ran out of certain large letters and had to
change the name of the paper to suit the letters remaining. This happened on
July 9, 1812, and the editor very innocently explains the event by saying in his
editorial that, being disappointed in receiving the proper type, he had to change

396 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

the name of tlie paper from Westmoreland and Indiana Register to Greensburg
and Indiana Register. This was perhaps more of an evidence of a thrifty job
printing business then than it would be now. The Register, be it Greensburg
or Westmoreland, was a very neat sheet for the times. The few old copies
preserved are much better in paper, type and general make-up than one would
expect in that early day. Though yellowed by nearly a hundred years, they
are still bright to the eye, and easily read. They were printed on paper made
by the Markles, or by Markle and Doum, after they began the paper business
on the Sewickley in about 1811. The Register was 9)^2 by 13 inches. There
were four of these pages, and four columns on each page. Every inch almost
of available space was utilized by printed matter. The price was $2.25 per
year. In their columns they had news of Congress, European news, and a
good deal of war news during the War oi 1812. In one issue was printed an
address by Thomas Jefferson ; a report of the trial of Aaron Burr for treason,
then going on in Richmond ; and the first news of a battle gained in Europe by
Napoleon Bonaparte. No newspaper man of today would publish such im-
portant matters in the subdued style the editors adopted then.

In almost every issue for years is a standing ofifer fo take rags at the highest
market price in payment for the paper. The publisher, in turn, we need hardly
say, traded the rags to the paper maker for paper, illustrating the old method of
barter, when money was scarce. There were few editorials in those days.
Many issues had political articles written by outsiders under assumed names ;
perhaps in some instances the outsider was the editor himself. In a week or so
the article would likely be answered by another writer under a nom de plume.
Prominent men like Findley, who was then in Congress, frequently reached their
constituents by letters to the paper. Findley 's letters were often written from
Washington. Politics or material of that nature filled from six to eight col-
umns each week. Findley wrote so much for the Register that many blamed
him for having an interest in it. This was intended to injure him, or rather
to weaken the paper in its support of him.

Graham was a publisher as well as an editor, and often printed and published
small books, such as the "Constitution of the United States," "Watts" Hymns,"
etc. In some way he had them bound in sheep and bound very neatly for that
age of book-making. He also, like most country editors, kept a small assort-
ment of books, papers, etc., for sale.

As the years go by, the paper assumes more life, and in 1812 they began to
advertise patent medicines. "The Elixir of Perpetual Adolescence." and the
"Modern Anti-Bilious Compound" are the leading curatives of that day. The
paper also gave a sure cure for the bite of a mad dog, and told in very matter-of-
fact way, of the hanging of eight negroes at one time in the south. They were
not news-gatherers at all as our papers are now ; they published almost nothing
about the local happenings of the town and county. No one can learn anything
from their columns as to what manner of a town we had then, nor what was
going on here at home. Houses were built, the court house was completed

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY

397

and occupied, marriages took place and prominent citizens died, and not a word
was printed about such incidents. The inference is that the people wanted
foreign news, which most of them could get in no other way, while the home
happenings they could learn from each other. In those days there were no
mails throughout the county. The editor delivered his paper in the town him-
self, and he sent it out over the county the best way he could. The editor
usually tried to have a number of subscribers in one community, so that he
could send a package of papers with some home-gomg citizen to leave them at
a croiss-roads store, where each patron could call for his paper. When the first
regular mail route was established from Greensburg- to Bedford in 1812, the
Register announced with great joy that subscribers on the route could have
their papers delivered regularly by the mail carrier. The enterprising editor
and publisher died in 1815, and his widow carried on the paper for a few years,
when she sold it to new proprietors, who, in turn, changed its name. The
Register was, as its original name indicated, a farmer's paper. It had a little
political leaning, but very little. It has had many names and many editors,
but it is still in existence, and is now popularly known as the IVestinorelaiid
Democrat.

In 181 1 the Federalists started a paper in Greensburg called the Greens-
burg Gazette. This was done so that their political organization might have a
mouth-piece. The Federalist paper seeming to succeed, in 1818 the Democrats
got together and purchased the old Register. Frederick A. Wise was made
managing editor, and the paper came out in 18 19 as the Westmoreland Repub-
lican and Fanners' Chronicle, for they were evidently not afraid of long names.
Wise had been born and brought up in Greensburg, but for some years he had
been a printer in Baltimore. On coming here he made a contract with the own-
ers that when he should pay a certain price, most likely the original cost of the
establishment, he was to become sole owner of the organ. He thus gained the
ownership of it, and continued to edit it till 1830, when he sold it to Joseph
Russell. In 1841 Mr. Russell formed a partnership with David K. Marchant,
a printer by trade, who became sole owner in 1844, and continued its publica-
tion till 1856, when he sold an interest to Andrew Graham. In 1861 Graham
became sole owner and proprietor by purchase, and sold it January i, 1862, to
James F. Campbell & Company. They changed its name to the Westmoreland
Republican. In January, 1863, William A. Stokes, a prominent lawyer who
had come here from Philadelphia, purchased it entirely, for he was a part owner
before, under the firm name of James F. Campbell & Co. Stokes was a very
able man whether at the bar, in a public address, or with the pen. He had
formerly written a great deal for it, and was on all hands regarded as a most
pungent and eloquent writer. He published it till 1864, when he sold it to W.
W. Keenan, who by this time owned the Greensburg Democrat. Under Mr.
Keenan's administration the two papers were combined, and by their union was
formed the Westmoreland Democrat, which is yet published in Greensburg.

398 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

The Grccnsburg Democrat was first published by Edward J. Keenan and
John Klingensmith, Jr., and made its appearance on November i8, 1853. This
paper was founded to give expression to those who favored the renomination
and election of William Bigler a second time to the governorship of Pennsyl-
vania. It heartily and ably endorsed his administration. The other papers,
though Democratic organs, were opposed to his re-election. The editors were
both prominent Democrats, and closely associated with the politics of the
county. They made the Democrat a bright, sparkling paper indeed. Mr.
Klingensmith died in 1854, and Keenan became sole owner. In 1857 his
brother, W. W. Keenan, became editor and manager, under the name of E. J.
Keenan & Bro. In June, 1858, James Keenan S: Co. purchased it. James
Keenan was at that time United States consul at Hong Kong, China. He was
also a member of the Westmoreland bar, and a more extended notice of his
character and attainments is given among the special biographies of the
county, later on in this work. The paper was still published by the brothers
here. James Keenan died in 1862. E. J. Keenan was then in the United
States army, and W. W. Keenan managed the paper. E. J. Keenan was one of
the ablest newspaper men who ever came to Greensburg. He was very zealous
in advocating his cause, be it whatever it may, and was extremely bitter against
his opponents. He was assailed on all sides, but his paper grew more promi-
nent with each issue. The editorial against William A. Cook, an attorney of
much prOiiTiinence here who left the Democratic party in 1854 and joined the
Know-Nothings, has been written of as one of the severest articles ever pub-
lished in the state. A libel suit against the editor followed, but the verdict was
only six and a fourth cents. The edition of his paper of July 13, 1859, was
aimed at Simon Cameron and his political friends. It was illustrated with many
ingenious wood cuts, and for that day shows a high order of newspaper art.
Mr. Keenan always used good English, and was a natural newspaper man. He
was an editor before he was twenty-one years old, and was more or less con-
nected with the newspaper business all his life. In private life he was a most
genial and companionable man, and had always many friends. Notwithstand-
ing his bitter pen, when he chose to wield it, he was always open-hearted, gen-
erous and forgiving. On the death of James Keenan, in 1862, Alexander Alli-
son purchased his interest, and in 1863 Allison retired, when W. W. Keenan
became sole owner.

In 1864 W. W. Keenan, proprietor of the Democrat, purchased the Repub-
lican from Mr. Stokes, and thereafter he and E. J. Keenan published the Rc-
publican and Democrat till 1871, when Kline & Co. purchased it and assumed
proprietorship on January i, 1872. The firm was composed of Dr. W. J. K.
Kline and Silas A. Kline. On October i, 1873, Silas A. Kline sold his interest
to A. B. Kline, who as Kline & Brother published the paper, but changed its
name by dropping the word "Republican." They continued its publication
till November 22, 1882, when it was again sold to B. F. Vogle and T. R.
\Mnsheinier, by whom the paper has since been and is now published.

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

399

The Tribune and Herald of today really dates back to 1811, when, as we
said, the Greensburg Gazette was started as the Oirgan of the Federalist party.
David McLean was then the editor, and was succeeded by Frederick J. Cope in
1822. McLean moved to Pittsburgh after selling to Mr. Cope. The early
Gazette was a four-column sheet, and so remained till 1823. Paper was then
scarce and expensive, and the proprietors wasted no space with ilaming head-
lines. The original Gazette was 18 by ii>4 inches, with not quite a half-inch
of margin around the printed columns. On the last page o.f each issue was a
new feature, a story of romantic character under such titles as "The Pirate's
Treason," "The Count's Secret," "The Mystery of the Castle," etc. It also
gave some local news, but very little. The province of the Gazette politically
was to oppose the Republican. It favored the election of Andrew Jackson to
the presidency, but it will be remembered that the Federalists claimed him for
years before his election, and many of them voted for him in 1828. When he-
was supported by the Democrat-Republican party, it opposed him bitterly.
This paper, or its editor, also published and bound books and kept a miniature
book store. Among the publications of the Gazette in 1824 was "Divine Breath-
ings, or a Pious Soul Thirsting After Christ in One Hundred Pathetick Medi-
tations, etc., to contain 128 pages, 160. .Price 37;^ cents, full bound and
gilded."

The Gazette of March 25, 1824, has a picture representing a railroad engine
and three cars laden with coal. Three columns are devoted to a description of
this wonderfully designed motive power then recently introduced in England.
The editor thought it wonderful that three cars carrying as much as fifty tons
of coal could be transported by one engine twelve or fourteen miles per hour.
He sadly informed his readers, however, that it will be impossible ever to in-
troduce such a method of transportation here in Westmoreland, because of the
hills. "It would require," wrote the editor, "too many engines to pull the cars
over the hills. It can never be used near Greensburg because of the hills, for
we are situated on one and surrounded by them on all sides." Yet the editor,,
Frederick J. Cope, lived in Greensburg till he saw railroads all around the town
and crossing all the chains of high mountains in the United States. He saw
one engine transporting hundreds of tons of coal at a greater speed than four-
teen miles per hour. He owned the farm north of Greensburg patented to
Captain Joseph Brownlee, who was killed by the Indians, July 13, 1782. He
was born in Greensburg in 1801, and died in 1882. In his later years he con-
tributed much useful material on educational and agricultural subjects to the
press of Western Pennsylvania.

In 1828, February ist, the Gazette was sold by Mr. Cope to John Black &
Son. It then became the Greensburg Gazette. In 1829 the Federalist party
was gone, and the paper became Anti-Masonic. Mr. Black, the father, retired
in 1832, and his son changed the name of the paper to the Westmoreland In-
telligencer. Not long after this Mr. Black, Jr., died, and the Intelligencer was
purchased by R. C. Fleeson, who had been one of the proprietors of the Pitts-

400 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

burgh Dispatch. Then it passed to John Ramsey, and in 1839 was purchased
by John Armstrong, the father of the late John and Colonel James Armstrong.
The elder Armstrong and his son, James, edited it for over ten years. In 1840
a new paper called the Sentinel was started in Greensburg, of which John F.
Beaver, a noted member of the bar, was the leading spirit, and a man named
Row was editor. That was the year of the greatest political campaign in our
history, and the Sentinel was started largely because of it. It was not success-
ful, and shortly after the campaign was over it was purchased by the Arm-
strongs, who merged it with the Intelligencer. In November, 1850, they sold it
to D. W. Shryock, who came here from Salem township and began its publica-
tion. In 1854, during the Know-Nothing campaign, its name was changed to
the American Herald, and still later to the Greensburg Herald. For many years
it remained the chief organ here of the Whig and later of the Republican party.
Mr. Shryock is yet most favorably remembered by the people of Westmoreland
county. He was an open-hearted man, of good ability, and always published
a neat, readable paper. In i860 he was a member of the National Republican
Convention in Chicago, which nominated Abraham Lincoln for the presidency,
and afterward he was appointed internal revenue collector for this congres-
sional district. Later he was unsuccessfully engaged in the banking business,
and lost the entire earnings of a lifetime.

In 1870 J. R. McAfee founded the Tribune in opposition to the Herald.
Messrs. D. S. Atkinson and T. J. Weddell then purchased the Herald from ]\Ir.
Shryock, and shortly afterward united it with the Tribune, forming the
Tribune and Herald. Some years later the corps of editors was changed by
John M. Peoples taking the place of Mr. Weddell, and still later, William C.
Peoples took the place made vacant by the death of his brother, John M. Peo-
ples. All the proprietors of this paper since the retirement of Mr. Shryock
have been members of the bar. The paper is now incorporated under the name
of the Tribune Publishing Company. It publishes both a weekly and daily
edition, and has a large circulation.

The Pennsylvania Argus is the oldest of all Westmoreland papers, if con-
fined to one paper or to one name. It was founded in 1831 by Jacob Steck and
George Rippey. It has always prided itself on pouring forth pure, un-
adulterated Democracy.

George Wolf, a Democrat, was elected governor over Joseph Ritner in 1829 •
by a large majority. He again defeated Ritner in 1832, but by a reduced ma-
jority. Then the Democratic party unwisely placed Wolf in nomination a third
time in 1835. This alienated many Democrats, who nominated Henry A.
Muhlenburg as their candidate. The Whigs and anti-Masons again nominated
Ritner, a level headed Pennsylvania Dutchman, who was elected over his two
opponents. The Argus sustained Muhlenberg and weakened its standing
with the rank and file of Democracy, so that it was very poorly patronized.
The result of this was that in 1839 it was sold at sherifif's sale and purchased
by J. M. Bnrrell. a talented and eloquent member of the bar, who afterwards

J.i/Lt'??7j^aAi£C>

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 401

became president judge of the district. He proved to be an able journalist.
Some of his poHtical articles in the campaign of 1840 advocating the election of
Alarthi Van Buren over William Henry Harrison, were taken up and answered
bv Horace Greeley in the Log; Cabin, of which he was then editor. Late in
1841 the Argus was sold to Joseph Cort and James Johnston. In July, 1844,
it passed to S. S. Turney and W. H. Hacke. They published it till 1849, when
it was sold to John ]\I. Laird. Since that time it has been under the continuous
proprietorship of the Laird family.

All things being considered, we believe that John AL Laird deserves iirst
place among the newspaper men of the last century in Westmoreland county.
There may have been abler men than he, who for a brief space were connected
with the profession, but there are certainly none who brought to the field
the equal of his intellect and devoted their time to the work for life as he did.
He began newspaper work very early in life. His first venture was as editor
and publisher of a Democratic paper in Somerset, Ohio. Later he moved to
Steubenville, and worked on the Republican Ledger, first as a journeyman
printer, and later as its editor and proprietor. There he met and worked in the
printing office with Edwin M. Stanton, who afterwards became attorney-general
under President Buchanan, and secretary of war under President Lincoln.
This acquaintance stood him in good stead in later years, for he used it to have
President Lincoln spare the life of a young man named Smith, the son of a
poor widow in Greensburg, After leaving Steubenville he returned to West-
moreland county and purchased the Pennsylvania Argus from Major William
H. Hacke and S. S. Turney. He was its editor and proprietor from January
I, 1850, till his death in 1887. His style was vigorous and pointed. In politics
he was an unswerving Democrat, and while he may have expressed bitter senti-
ments against his political opponents, he never carried them into his private life.
Then he was most gracious and obliging. He hated hypocrisy and shams, and
loved an honest expression, be it what it may. In 1872 he was elected register
and recorder of Westmoreland county. This, we believe, is the only position
he ever sought or received. When he took hold of the Argus it had a high
standing as a political organ, for it had had as editors and contributors such
men as Judge Burrell, James Johnston, and others. Lender Mr. Laird's man-
agement it lost none of its standing, though for a generation he was almost its
sole writer. He was a grandson of Judge John Moore, who first became presi-
dent judge of our courts, and who has been considered among the early judge*
of our county. ]\Ir. Laird died from old age, superinduced from a fall he re-
ceived on the icy streets. He died January 25, 1887.

Frank Coimn's Paper was founded by Dr. Frank Cowan. Its first issue was
on May 22, 1872. Its editor and proprietor was a man of superior intellectual
attainments, and wrote himself largely into his paper. In its first number was
a strong article from the pen of Hon. Edgar Cowan, the father of the editor, on
the rights and wrongs of Vv'omen in Pennsylvania law. It was a most exhaus-
tive article, such as might be expected from him. It furthermoore suggested

402

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY

remedies for her wrongs in the law, and treated somewhat on her social and
domestic relations as well. The Paper was always bright and attractive. It
devoted its columns largely to the coal, coke and iron industries, then in their
infancy in this county. In 1874 it was removed to Pittsburgh, and in August,
1875, its publication was suspended because of the ill health of the editor.

For some time in 1875-76 the Democratic Times was published in the Paper
office, but it was soon suspended. In the winter of 1878 the Argus office was
destroyed by fire, and for some weeks it was published there also. In 1878
the office and fixtures were sold to a company which published the National
Issue, a Greenback Party advocate. Under several managements and with
various editors and writers, among others Calvin A. Light, F. L. Armbrust and
Uriel Graves, it was conducted till 1881. By that time, mainly through the
energy of Mr. Light, the company saw its way clear to begin the publication of
a daily paper called the Evening Nezvs. This was the first daily paper pub-
lished regularlv in Westmoreland county. In May, 1881, it was sold to J. H.
Ryckman and James B. Laux, who converted it into the Grecnsburg Press, with
both daily and weekly editions. \Mth the change it also became Republican in
politics. The first issue of the new daily was on Alay 18, and the weekly on
June 6, 1881. Shortly after this the late H. J. Brunot purchased the interest
of Mr. Ryckman. A fine brick building on West Otterman street was erected
for its publication, and it has remained there ever since. Like the Tribune and
Herald, it has since been incorporated. ]\Ir. Laux remained its editor for many
years and raised it to a very potent paper. Some years later he retired from
its management, and is now a citizen of New York city.

There were two newspapers published in Greensburg in the German lan-
guage. The first was published by Frederick A. Cope, in connection with the
Gazette in 1828, and later by John Armbrust. The other was published by J.
S. Steck, in connection with the Pennsylvania Argus. It was furthermore not
uncommon for the early papers, the Gazette and the Register, to publish a
German edition of their papers and an English as well. There was 'always a
call for more or less German literature, particularly in Hempfield township.

The Greensburg Record, founded April ist, 1886, by Messrs. Darwin jMu-
sick and Daniel P. Stahl, was a bright, sparkling addition to the Democratic
literature of the county. It was issued as a daily and weekly. The daily, for
the first time in our daily paper history, published the Associated Press news,
which added greatly to its popularity. The publication of the daily edition was
discontinued in December. 1892, and that of the weekly on September 11, 1895.

The first paper published outside of Greensburg, as far as we can learn, was
the Democratic Free Courier, published in jMount Pleasant, by N. W. Trexel
as editor, and D. H. H. Wakefield as assistant editor. The paper did not last
long, and we have never seen a copy.

Another early paper was the Ligonier Free Press, edited by one Samuel
Armour. The first number was issued June ist, 1845, from the editor's print-
ing office in Ligonier. Mr. Armour had come to Ligonier from jMaine, no

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 403

doubt most of the way on foot. He was about six feet and four inches high,
and was very slender. ^Mentally, he was extremely eccentric, and yet had a
irenius for newspaper work. The Free Press was devoted, as its old musty
numbers tell us, to "literature, morality, agriculture, news, finances and mis-
cellany," and we will add, to any other fancy which entered the fanatic editor's
brain. In its early issues it was neutral in politics. But the editor had no:
resided long in that strongly Democratic community until he began to realize
how extremely sinful and corrupt the Whigs were, and forthwith his paper
began to lean towards Democracy. The birth of the Know-Nothing party in
1854 was, in his opinion, the culmination of alj evil, and the final power which
drove him from his Whig moorings into the Democratic camp. In an editorial
he says that "an increased number of subscribers and their political preferences"
had also urged him in this direction. He also changed the name of his paper
from the Free Press to the Valley Democrat, the change coming with the issue
of January 10, 1854. The paper adapted its size to the demands of the occa-
sion ; at the editor's will it shrunk and expanded, suiting itself entirely to the
amount of light and wisdom which was hurled from his brain. Nor did the
modest sheet necessarily impose itself upon its patrons regularly each week.
This feature was regulated to suit the supply and demand of paper. IMore than
once, some people say scores of times, did the editor walk to Pittsburgh in one
day and walk home the day following, carrying the paper on his back, walking
a distance of fifty miles each way, in order that the people might be enlightened
by his wisdom, and that the child of his inventive genius might live and grow.
Nor had he a less stock of ingenuity than walking energy, for, when short of
type of a large size, he not infrequently cut them from hard wood, and cut so
neatly that no one could detect his home manufactured type froni examining
the printed sheet. He often made wood-cuts to illustrate his paper. A news-
boy on a horse at full gallop, printed from a wood-cut of his own, indicated that
news was carried to him with great speed. A ship sailing on the ocean, and
under it in large letters, also of his own make, the words, "Highly important
from Russia and Turkey," indicated that he had the latest news from the
"front," for those two nations were then at war. In another column, with
flaming headlines, he brings to the news-thirsty, housed-up inhabitants of hill
and vale, the word of an "insurrection in Nickchivan" ; that "the Russian Prince
Woronzofif had surrendered at Tifles," that 'Schanye, the great Circassian
leader and Seline Pasha were approaching each other," and that "Admiral
Machinoff was rapidly overcoming Vice Admiral Osman Bey."

The muses, too, were not neglected. Under the column headed "Poetry,"
was that fine ballad so illustrative of the rythmic culture of the nineteenth
century, entitled "The Arkansas Gentleman Close to the Choctaw Line," which
filled over a column, while following it was that most classic gem of the poetic
temperament as personified in English verse, entitled "Joe Bowers."

In the more modern times newspapers have sprung up in almost every town

404

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

in the countv. and there are seven daily papers printed in it, viz. : four in
Greensburg, and one in each of the towns of Scottdale, Monessen and Latrobe.
The papers published outside of Greensburg are referred to in the parts of
this work which relate to the several boroughs and townships of the county.

CHAPTER XXVI

Common Schools.

Scarcely any record was kept of our early schools in \\'eStmoreland county
until about 1S20, and even for thirty years after that they were very meager.
Our early settlers, as we have said, -a-ere almost invariably either English,
Scotch-Irish or Germans. Of these the Germans, or Dutch, as they were
called, were behind either of the others in their general education and in the
establishment of schools. Many of the pioneer preachers tried to introduce
schools in connection with their churches, but their efforts in this direction were
crowned with a very meager measure of success. The Scotch Presbyterian
clergy, always more bold and zealous in any cause than the Germans, had the
better success in the founding of schools. Nevertheless, the educational ad-
vantages of that day were extremely limited at best. Schoolhouses were few
and far between. Even as late as 1830 children in our best rural communities
were often compelled to walk from three to five miles to the nearest school-
house. One schoolhouse, where we now have ten, was more than the average
in the early part of last century. Schoolhouses were built of logs, but this was
not their worst feature. The roofs were made of clapboards and upon this they
put a covering of clay to keep out the cold and rain. The result of this on a
wet day in springtime may be imagined. Frequently great drops of muddy
water fell from the roof, sometimes disfiguring a book by a single drop, and
often driving the pupils to their homes.

At one side of the school room was the usual fireplace, where wood was the
fuel used. One of the duties of the teacher and older pupils was to cut wood
sufficient to keep the fire going. Stoves were introduced long afterward, and
from their manner of construction were but a slight improvement on the fire-
place. Around the entire school room was a bench usually made of a slab from
a saw log, or a split puncheon, upon which the pupils sat. For a back to this
bench they leaned against the wall. There was no desk in front of this wall-
seat, except that the larger pupils who were learning to write had a board in
front of them upon which a copy book could rest. There were generally two
small windows. In the early period these were made without glass, that is, by

4o6

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

the use of oiled paper. Later they were supphed with glass, but at best the
room was dimly lighted. The schoolhouse was not built by the township, but
by the freewill offerings of labor on the part of the neighbors. A dozen farmers-
met and decided on the most central place to build a schoolhouse. In one or
two afternoons they cut the trees, hewed them, rolled them together and laid
them up, and the house was ready for the roof. It was rarely ever larger than
fifteen feet square, and about eight feet to the square where the roof began.
Rude as it was, it was not far behind the houses of its patrons in conveniences,
and therefore was probably as much as we could expect from them. A greater
interest in the education of their children might have prompted them to build
better houses, yet it is rare, even in our own enlightened age, that the school-
house is better than the average residence of its patrons.

The teacher only pretended to teach the barest rudiments of learning. If
he could read, write and count with figures, he was supposed to be sufficiently
educated to "keep school." The community depended largely on a chance
traveler for a teacher, for but few of their own young men were teachers in the
earlier period. The son of the early settler had other matters to attend to
which were more urgent than going to school. He had to assist in clearing
away the original forest so that crops might be grown, and, when old enough
to go to school, he was expected to assist in home defense against the Indians.
No schoolhouse filled with unprotected children would have been regarded as
safe anywhere in Westmoreland county before 1795, for the country, as we
have seen, was in constant danger of Indian incursions. In the eastern states^
where the settlements were older, more attention had been paid to education,
and from them our county drew its earliest teachers. Often a lank Yankee
came walking westward and was employed as a teacher. Sometimes he turned
out to be an impostor or a failure, but not always, for there are instances among
o.ur best families of the original progenitor in our county beginning here as a
school teacher. For many years the teacher received no specified salary or
wages. The schoolhouse was given him and he "kept school" in it. All who
sent their children to him paid him a certain amount per month for each pupil.
His income therefore depended on the size of the school. If he proved a fail-
ure he was more easily gotten rid of than our modern teachers. Later the com-
munity raised an amount by subscription, and this was given him for say three
months teaching, or for as many months as the amount justified. The term was
generally about three months, viz. : December, January and February. Under
such an agreement any one who subscribed could send his children to his
school. There was no division of the county into school districts — the district
was bounded only by the ability of the pupils to reach the schoolhouse. Fre-
quently the teacher canvassed the community for pupils, and thus an energetic
teacher often added to the educational advantages of the community.

\^ery early in our history two good principles were shown — in crude form, it
is true, but they nevertheless still hold sway in our present most perfect coni-
mrm school system. They were, first, that when a sum of money was paid the

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 407

teacher, all who came to him as pupils had a right to his best attention, regard-
less of how many children came from one family, or how much or how little
their parents paid towards his salary. This afterwards became the corner-
stone upon which our common school system was founded. The other principle
was, that the teacher himself had to be examined by a "committee" as to his in-
tellectual attainments before he could be entrusted with the education of the
children. The committee to examine the teacher was frequently the minister
of the communit}', but, in the absence of a clergyman, a justice of the peace or
some other man of prominence was appointed to perform this service. The ex-
aminer's education may have been extremely limited, but he or he and his
associates were nevertheless the embryonic forrii of our present county superin-
tendent. In some degree, at all events, he tested the attainments of the teacher,
and prevented a wholly iUiterate man from becoming a schoolmaster. The
minister perhaps made a more thorough examiner, but there were many com-
munities which did not have a minister. There were, indeed, but few com-
munities which had a resident minister ; their spiritual wants were ministered to
regularly every four or eight weeks, but the preacher was gone from among them
and on his way to the next preaching place almost as soon as the services were
over. Nor was the minister supposed to know the wants of the community as
well as a hard-headed old settler who had perhaps, in the east in his youth,
learned to read, write and cipher. The committee came afterward, and was ap-
pointed or selected to examine the would-be teacher by those who were sup-
porting him. I ' "''*!^j
The teacher was invariably called the schoolmaster. The wages paid him
varied with the times, the thrift of the community which employed him, and
his reputation as a teacher. Ten or twelve dollars per month was considered
a very good remuneration for his services in 1825, and twenty-five cents per
month for each pupil was the average paid him when the school was a purely
subscription school. As a general rule he w^as an unmarried man and "boarded
around ;"' that is, went from house to house for his meals and lodging, for to
board the teacher free was one of the well established rules among our early
settlers. In those days there were no regular text-books in use in the schools.
The pupils were supposed to furnish their own books, and each brought from
his or her home such books as their scanty libraries afiforded. Nearly every
pupil who could read brought a Bible or Testament. There was then a smaller
book called the "English Reader," which many pupils had ; "Lindlev Murrav's
Grammar," "History of Rome," "History of the United States," "Plutarch's
Lives," "Life of George Washington," or any one of a dozen others might be
found among the pupils on the opening day of a pioneer school. Still later came
the "Western Calculator," a crude work on arithmetic. From these books the
master must hear his pupils recite, and his work, it may well be imagined, was
not an easy one. Another duty which necessarily devolved upon him was mak-
ing pens out of quills. Steel pens were patented in England by Joseph Gillott,
in 183 1, but did not come into general use here for manv vears after. So all

4o8 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

the earlier masters were compelled to make and mend the quill pens of the pu-
pils to whom he was teaching the art of penmanship. Another duty was to
write copies, from which we have the word "copy-book." The pupil brought
blank paper, and the master wrote a copy in the upper line for him to practice
on. This copy varied with the degree of penmanship of the pupil.

Schools at that time did not close on Friday afternoon as they do now, but
on Saturday at noon. No man could possibly sustain his reputation as a
thorough instructor of youth who did not regularly resort to corporal punish-
ment. The teacher's duty on Saturday afternoon was to lay in a good stock of
rods with which to whip the children the following week. So as soon as school
closed the really successful master strolled into the woods to cut rods, both long
and short ones, to wear out on the backs of the pupils. An old gentleman now
in his grave, has often told the writer of a teacher in the thirties who always
opened his school with prayer, and whose second regular morning duty was to
pass along, the benches where the boys sat, and without any provocation what-
ever on the part of the boys, strike each one on the top part of the legs, striking
so that the rod overlapped and left its impression on three or four legs at once.
If he had plenty of time, or perhaps, if the devotional exercises had particularly
inspired him, he struck one blow fo.r each leg, but otherwise gave one blow for
each pair of legs presented. This is no exaggeration at all. It came as regu-
larly as the school opened, and the teacher was regarded as one of the best in the
community. No charge of breaking Solomon's injunction to "spare the rod
and spoil the child," was ever laid to him. Nor did the parents seem to object
to this inhuman treatment. Yet, strange to say, the teacher lived to be an old
man, and at his death had earned the highest respect of the community in which
he resided.

What we have written applies mostly to country schools, but there were
scarcely any other kind in our county prior to 1820, for Greensburg was a mere
hamlet, and was the largest and practically the only town in the county.
The state, it will be understood, furnished no aid whatever to the schools at that
time. j\len were expected to educate their own children, as they clothe and
support them now. The state had not yet learned that to make good citizens
it must secure for each a reasonably fair education.

In 1800 a plot of ground on which to erect a schoolhouse was set apart by
Colonel John Bonnett, who lived between Laurelville and Mount Pleasant.
Colonel Bonnett was of French descent, perhaps of Huguenot extraction. His
only daughter was the wife of Dr. David Marchand. He was a man of high
character and of generous disposition. On this lot which he set apart, he and
his neighbors combined and built a schoolhouse. It was about one mile east of
J\lt. Pleasant, along the turnpike. For many years after its construction the
children within a radius of five or six miles came there to school. It was the
first schoolhou.se in that section of the countv and was in use for very many
years. Even from :\lt. Pleasant the children attended school there. The
house was built of logs. So revered was it that it was photographed before it

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

409

Avas torn down, and this in a da}' when photography was not as common an art
as it is now. Daniel Shupe had the photograph made and also had a walking
cane made from one of its logs.

The schools of the day were all subscription schools. Most years they had
two terms, one in the winter for the larger pupils and one in the summer for
the smaller ones

A schoolhouse built prior to 1833, but in use at that time near Congruity,
in Salem township, has teen described by one who attended school in it that
year, and who is yet living. It was built of logs, and was in the woods. There
were two windows, if they could be called windows at all, one on each side of
the house. These windows were made by leaving the space between two logs
open, all the other spaces having been filled with mortar and chunks of wood.
In these open spaces were set upright sticks eighteen or twenty inches apart, and
these were covered with greased paper, the grease or oil being added so
that the light might more readily penetrate it. The fireplace was at the end of
the building, and was of very large dimensions. Into it large logs could be
rolled and burnt, and thus the room could be kept comparatively warm. The
master had small pieces of wood like shingles, upon which the letters of the
alphabet were pasted, and from these the small pupil was expected to learn his
A, B. C's. The only text book in use in the school was ''Cobb's Spelling
Book," the Old and New Testament, and the "Western Calculator." This was
just ])rior to the adoption of the common school system in 1836.

In 1824 came our first school law. Briefly, it provided for the election of
school directors in each borough o.r township, whose prescribed duties fore-
shadowed in a small degree the duties of our present directors. The people
were opposed to it because it seemed to take from them and give to the school
directors powers which they- were determined to hold. We take the following
from an old paper as indicative of the public feeling:

4IO

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

"A correspondent from Rostraver township writes us as follows : 'It is requested that
you publish in your paper that the citizens of Rostraver township at their township elec-
tion agreed unanimously by public vote, not to elect school men for said township.' "

In commenting on the vote in Greensburg and in Hempfield townships, the
editor delivers himself as follows :

"At an election in this borough fifteen votes were given for school men. No previous
notice agreeably to the school law was given by the inhabitants. We know of no law- or
act of any legislative body so unpopular as this law has proven to be in this county. At
the election in Hempfield township a scene of confusion and tumult occurred, which is
represented as having been frightful. A person who witnessed part of it states that if
any advocate of school law had openly avowed himself as such, he would have been liter-
ally torn to pieces. Expressions to this effect were uttered by several persons.

"Disorder on occasions of this kind is generally confined to a few individuals who
drink too freely, but in this instance it is not a little surprising to find a great majority
of the people present openly opposed to the adoption of any measure having the least
relation to the law in question. A greater number of persons were present than ever con-
gregated at the same place before."

"In Unity township, and, indeed in every township from which we have heard, a very
decided disapprobation of the provisions of this law was manifested by the people. What
could have produced such an unanimity of opinion upon the subject, it is difficult for
us to conjecture."

The early school houses, as a general rule, were built on land donated by
some land owner, who thus secured for his children the advantage of being
close to the school. They were, moreover, invariably located near a good
spring, for an abundance of water was a necessity which our ancestors never
forgot, either in locating their dwelling houses or schoolhouses. Another
requisite in building a school house was that it must be centrally located, so that
it might receive the largest possible patronage from the community.

So far as can be learned now, prior to 1825 there was no country school-
house in the county that was not built of logs. The first frame schoolhouse
was built in Derry township in 1825, at what is known as No. 7, and was form-
erly called "Center Union Schoolhouse." It is situated about four miles
north of Latrobe and is yet one of the leading rural schools of the county.
The original article of agreement entered into by the citizens of the community
for its construction was as follows :

"April 5th, 1825. A memorandum of agreement entered into by the undernamed
subscribers for the purpose of erecting a school house in Derry township, Westmoreland
county, on the lands of Coulter, McCune and McClelland. We do agree that five of us
shall be appointed to manage said work and to keep a just account of what each individual
pays or does towards it. and to settle with and pay any person who may or does more
work or furnish more material for said house than is opposite their respective names."

This agreement has appended to it the names of the subscribers, with day
work, bushels of rye, corn, oats, wheat and buckwheat furnished bv each.
James AlcClelland was the leading spirit in the enterprise and heads the list
with "12 days work. 12 bushels of rye and 12 bushels of oats." Then follows

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 411

sixteen others, each of whom agreed to furnish labor, grain, etc. Their names
are as follows: Conrad Rinsel, George Rinsel, Joseph McMaster, Hugh
Skelley, Robert Coulter, Felty Flowers, Wm. McClelland, Henry Rinsel, Alex-
and :McCune, James H. Johnston, Patrick :McDermott, John Latimer, Philip
Diamond, James Dunlap, Dennis Conner, Isaac Munson, and John Rainey.

It was about twelve feet long and about ten feet wide, and the ceiling wa*
only about seven feet high. It had one wdndow on each side, and a window
at one end, and a door at the other end. The windows were glass and some
of the pupils who came there saw glass windows for the first time in their
lives. The writing desks were fastened around the wall. The seats were
called "peg seats," — that is they were made of a slab from a log, with pins
for legs. The heating apparatus was what was called a ten-plate stove, and it
was adapted to burning wood. About 1835 the house was enlarged by adding
a few feet to one end. The windows were increased to six, but the ceiling stilt
remained at its original height of about seven feet, and this prevented the
master from swinging his rod as skillfully as he might otherwise have done,
\\ith this enlargement of 1835 the house stood and did service till 1853, when
it was torn down, and a new one erected in the same place. The second house-
was built by Philip [NIcGuire, who died but recently. The third house was
erected near the original site in 1904.

The nearest neighboring schools were at Xew Alexandria, then calleci
Dennesontown, about four miles northwest on the northern turnpike, about five
miles north, and Xew Derry, about three miles to the east.

The method of employing teachers and the general management of the
schools at that time can be pretty well gathered from the following agree-
ment written by James ^McClelland, and dated May 5, 1825.

■'Articles of agreement made and concluded upon by and between William Lovegood
of one part and the undernamed subscribers of the other part. Witnesseth, that the said
Wm. Lovegood for the consideration hereinafter mentioned doth agree to teach reading,
writing and arithmetic at the rate of five dollars per scholar per annum, agreeable to the
best methods he is acquainted with, for the term of three, six or nine months or one-
year, the parties reserving a liberty of withdrawing at the end of every three months by
giving a month's warning, and during which term or terms the said-Wm. Lovegood doth
also agree to keep good rules and regulations in school and observe regular and proper
hours of attendance and to pay strict attention to improve the minds, manners and morals
of such children as may be entrusted to his care, and to have an eye over them during
the hour of recreation and likewise to permit the trustees or any of the subscribers to-
visit the school as often as they may think proper.

" For and in consideration of the above obligation being duly performed by the said'
Wm. Lovegood, we do obligate ourselves one and each of us to pay the said Wm. Love-
good the above sum in proportion to the number of scholars next our names in the fol-
lowing manner, to-wit : One half in cash, the other- in wheat, rye, oats or corn at the-
following prices — wheat at 5 shillings per bushel, rye and corn at three shillings and oats
at 20 cents. We do also obligate ourselves to furnish a comfortable house to teach in
with a sufficiency of fuel. The said payments to be paid at or near the end of every

412

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

three months if reauired. and to be delivered at any place fixed on by the teacher within
three miles of the schoolhouse."

The frame schoolhouse was not finished in time for occtipancy in 1825, and
.the first school taught there was in 1826, by Robert Given, who afterwards
became associate judge of Westmoreland county. William Dennison taught
there in 1827, James Kelly in 1828 and 1829, John McCaleb in 1830 and 1831.
J. C. Lannahill in 1832 and 1833, Craig McClellan in 1834, W. A. Nichols in
1835, W. H. Cochran in 1836, beginning March ist and continuing three
months. This ends the history of that district prior to the acceptance of the
free school system. Though the first free school law was passed in 1834, it
was not until after the amending act of 1836 that Derry township adopted the
free school system. William H. Cochran was the first teacher under the new
system in 1837. He had as many as eighty pupils present at one time, for now
that it was free of tuition, every citizen felt like availing himself of its benefits.
He opened the school with prayer, had a Bible class which recited twice a day,
and he read to the school from the New Testament four times per day. In
Tiis day the "Shorter Cathechism" was the prominent text book in the school.
Prior to the adoption of the free school system there were in this, as in
many other schoolhouses in the county, frequently two terms a year of three
months each, one in the winter and one in the summer, the number of terms
and their length being entirely regulated by the citizens in the community.
When times were hard and crops were scanty, they frequently did not have any
school at all, though that never happened in this particular house.

Women were rarely ever employed as teachers anywhere in the county
prior to 1840. Sometimes they were employed at low rates to teach a few small
children during a summer term. When the hard times of 1837 came, this
school, like others in the county, began to employ them because their services
•could be had for less than half the sum they were compelled to pay men. For
a ntimber of years afterwards there were two terms of public school in each
house, one in the winter and one in the summer, and they were frequently
taught by dififerent teachers. Jane Henry was the first woman teacher in the
Derry township school above described, and taught there in 1838. After that
•came Eliza Mitchell, in 1840, Jane Marshall (Mrs. Sterling), in 1842; Martha
McCune in, 1843, ^"d Elizabeth Woods in 1844.

The leading text book in our country schools in addition to the New Test-
ament were the "United States Speller," "English Reader," "Kirkhain's Gram-
mar" and the "Western Calculator." This last. was a splendid work, and with
all the many arithmetics published they have not improved much upon it since.
We have in the above given much more space to one school than the limited
pages of this work warrant, but we have done so because it is fairly repre-
sentative of the sehools of the county, and its rise and progress does not differ
-widely from that of any other long since established county school.

The school law of 1854, with some amendments,' is the school law of our

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 413;

present day. Among other things it provided for a county superintendent o£
the common schools. One of his duties is to examine the teachers as to their
quahtications to teach. So the old style of examination passed away at once.
\\iX\\ the law of 1854 came also better educated teachers and better pay per
month. Twenty dollars per month was the highest wages ever paid at Center
Union school until 1837. The average was less than twenty dollars per month.
An attractive feature of the schools of Westmoreland as managed in the
early days was the "spelling bee." This was held at night, in the country
schoolhouses, and was attended by the older pupils, the parents and the young,
men and maidens who had recently passed the school age but who still took an
interest in its public meeting. The teacher, or master, announced the evening
of the spelling, and made all necessary arrangements. One necessity was to
provide for the proper light, as there were no lamps in those days, and a number
of the older pupils were designated to bring candles. The spelling bee was held
on the long winter evenings, and, if it happened while the roads were covered
with snow, the house was not infrequently crowded to overflowing. As a.
general rule, two of the older pupils were chosen as captains, who "tossed up"
as to which should have the first choice of spellers for his or her side. They
then "picked" time about from all who were present, and each one selected
came out and took a position on the side of the captain who selected him or
her. When all who could be induced to spell were thus lined up, the master
or some one selected by him began the evening's performance by giving out
the words, beginning with the captains, then to those who came next, and so ■
on. When any one on either side misspelled a word, it was given to the
next on the other side, and those who missed words left the line, and took
their seats. \\'hen either side was thus exhausted, the other side were the
victors. Sometimes but one on each side was left. The one pronouncing the
words then selected the hardest words in the spelling book and gave them
time about. When the evening was about half gone, there was an inter-
mission, and this to some in attendance was not by any means the least enjoy-
able feature of the evening's entertainment. This old fashioned spelling bee
produced good spellers, better perhaps than we have now in our common
schools.

Another feature was a closing exhibition. This came at the end of the
term and belonged to a later period than the spelling bee. It partook of the
nature of a private theatrical, with the pupils as performers. The entertain-
ment consisted of recitations, essays, dialogues, music, and sometimes a debate
between two or four of the older boys of the school. The platform of the
schoolhouse, usually extending across the one end of the room, was the stage
from which the performances were delivered. In some instances, where tab-
leaux were shown or dialogues were included, which required a change of
costumes, the one end of the platform was curtained off so as to form a dress-
ing room. The performance often lasted an entire afternoon or evening. It

414

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY,

was discouraged somewhat because of the time consumed in its preparation,
)et there are few who participated in them who do not look back on them with
pleasure, and regard the time spent in their preparation as well improved.

It was not infrequent that each alternate Friday afternoon was set apart as
a special time for hearing declamations, essays, dialogues, etc., by the pupils.
Each member of the school was required to have some performance. On such
occasions the school was often visited by the parents or friends of the pupils,
and to speak or read before these strangers and the school, was a splendid an-
tidote for bashfulness, so common among the children of rural communities.

On the matter of the examination of teachers as to their qualifications to
■teach, we find an agreement entered into by the delegates of several town-
ships, which was published in the Grcciisbiirg Argus on May 7, 1835. This
agreement indicates a more systematic examination than was customary in
iormer years. It is as follows :

We, the subscribers, delegates from our several school districts, do agree to adopt the
following rules for the examination of teachers who may apply to them for certificates of
qualification to teach under the school law of the Commonwealth, viz : As to their com-
jjetency to teach reading, writing, arithmetic, English grammar and geography.

1. On the Art of Reading: — By their reading in the presence of the Directors or
such other person or persons as they shall appoint, such pieces as shall be required of
.them and answering such questions as shall be asked them.

2. On the .\rt of Writing : — By exhibiting their own hand writing for the inspec-
tion of the Directors.

3. On the branch of Arithmetic : — By working such questions as shall be required
by those who examine them to their satisfaction.

4. On Grammar: — By parsing lessons and answering such questions as shall be asked
them in a satisfactory manner.

5. On Geography : — By answering from the maps or otherwise such Geographical
.questions as the examiners may think proper to ask them.

May 7th, 1835."

Joseph Barnes, Derry Township.
John Powers, Rostraver Township.
- ■ - Amos Ogden, Fairfield Township.

George W. Martin, Allegheny Township.
Samuel Keltz, Ligonier Township.
Joseph Moorhead, Ligonier Borough.
Peter Hine, Loyalhanna Township.

For many years what is now known as Brant's school about two miles south
of Ligonier borough, was called the Dutch Meeting school, or Dutch school.
It was one of the first schoolhouses in Ligonier A'alley, but the exact date of
its erection is not known. It had three windows, one at each side and at one
end, the other end containing ^ door. There was a large stone fireplace at
one end, but this in after years gave way to a wood stove. The building
was a low structure, and near by was a meeting house built by the German
Reformed and the Lutheran churches, and from this the school took its name.

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 415

Along the walls all around the room, excepting at tlie door and fireplace, was
a wide board which served as a writing desk. Parallel with it were rude
benches without backs, upon which the pupils sat. The door swung on wooden
hinges, and was closed with a wooden latch. Spelling, reading and writing
were the only subjects taught in the country schools in those days.

The school opened at nine o'clock and closed at four o'clock, with an inter-
mission of an hour at noon. The recess at 10:30 and 2:30 was not then
thought of. The Bible was the leading text book. There were generally
two terms each year. They were called the winter term and the summer
term. Both were subscription schools, and the rates of tuition were about
fifty cents per month for each pupil. The first teacher at this school was a
man named Hidey, who began teaching there in 181 8. He taught both in
the German and English languages. He had no family, and boarded and
lodged in the school house, cooking his scanty fare at the" fireplace, and sleep-
ing on a bunk of some kind on the floor. Often the passer-by saw him sitting
there alone, reading by the flickering light of a tallowdip or mayhap by the
warm glow of the wood fire.

In 1822 Patrick McGowan taught there and continued its teacher for about
four years. In about 1818 he and his family were going west in a one-horse
covered wagon. At Laughlintown their horse took sick and died, and the
journey could not be prolonged further. McGowan wrote a very neat hand,
and found employment as a clerk at Washington Furnace, which was then in
blast. Afterwards he purchased the farm now owned by jNIr. C. C. JMenoher,
east of the school. He was a Scotch-Irishman, and was the first man who
taught there who was really capable of teaching English. For his day he was
well educated, and was a very successful teacher. At his death he was buried
in a graveyard near Zion's church. His sons were John, William, Peter,
Francis and Enos. John became the well known merchant of Ligonier, and
died in 1871. William was a physician, and Peter was a Methodist preacher,
and the father of the late Dr. Wm. McGowan, of Ligonier.

The summer term of school was attended almost entirely by the young chil-
dren, and the winter term largely by fullgrown young men and women. It
was not infrequent in this early day that young men who had several years be-
fore reached their majority went to school during the winter term and worked
on farms in the summer. This was doubtless due to the fact that there were
no schools for them to attend in their younger days. Spelling was taught
diflferently then from now, and engaged about the one-fourth of the pupil's
time, the other three-fourths being divided between reading, writing and arith-
metic. When the hour for studying spelling arrived, all the pupils studied spell-
ing at the same time, and each one "spelled out loud," and the pupil who could
spell the loudest and the fastest was decidedly the champion of the school.
The noise they made may be imagined.

Those who went to school there before 1830 were the Ambroses, Barrons,

41 6 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

Bakers, Brants, Campbells, Eclebergers, Hargnetts, Hairs, Markers, jMatthews,
McGowans, Rileys, Reeds, Roberts, Slaters, and the Selbys. Some of these
names are on the report book of the school to this day. The families were'
much larger then than now. The Barron family consisted of ten, the Baker
family of twelve, and the Fry family of sixteen children who attended this
school, though they did not attend at the same time.

The progenitor of the Brant family, from which family the school takes
its name, was John Brant, who died in 1802 and is buried in the graveyard
nearb\-. He came to America from Amsterdam. It was he who killed an
Indian with a rail. The Indian had concealed himself by crawling into the
bake-oven, hoping, it was presumed, to remain there until the proper time,
when he would pounce upon the defenseless family. When Brant accidentally
discovered him he had no weapon at hand, nor could he procure any without
affording the Indian an opportunity to come out and either shoot him or
escape. Nearby lay a strong fence-rail, and with this the sturdy old pioneer
punched the Indian to death. John Brant was a soldier of the Revolution.
Near his grave is that of his son John, who died in 1844, and who had fought
in the war of 1812.

An old custom in the country schools was that the master should "treat"
his pupils at Christmas. The treat consisted of candy, sugar cake, apples or
nuts, or whatever might be convenient. One of the teachers of this school
refused to comply with the custom, and the older pupils concluded to force
him into compliance. Accordingly, the next morning the pupils went early
and barred the door against the master, and kept him out till one o'clock, when
thev allowed him to come in, but, in place of resuming their studies, the pupils
ran out and barred the teacher in. At evening the girls had to have their wraps
to go home, and one of the strongest of the pupils who was fully grown con-
cluded to go in and hold the pedagogue while the girls went in for their wraps.
A hand-to-hand encounter ensued, and the pupil tripped on a bench and fell
to the floor, whereupon the teacher escaped. The next morning the master
came with a good supply of rods, and the barring out ended in the usual way.

In the nearby graveyard rest the remains of Henry Reed, who died in 1835.
He lived on the Freeman farm, and sent his children to this school. On the
Laughry farm lived the Ecleberger family, noted for its fine looking girls,
all of whom attended school there, and one of whom, Mary, married Benjamin
Park, an inn keeper near Ligonier. Near by was the house of Frederick
Hargnett, whose sons and daughters went to school there. Sarah was mar-
ried to Jacob Briniser, and was the mother of the Briniser family of Ligonier.
John was a well known merchant and business man of Ligonier for nearly
seventy years, and died in 1896. David Boucher moved from Somerset county
to a farm near Ligonier in 1833, with a family of eight sons and one daughter,
most of whom attended this school, though they lived fully two miles to the
north uf it.

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

4^7

The Roberts family have been patrons of this school almost continuously
since it was first started. From it came Robert Richford Roberts, who was
brought up and lived a short distance northwest of this. He afterwards be-
came a bishop in the Methodist Episcopal church, and preached in every sec-
tion of the Union. Bishop Roberts died in 1843.

The Marker family were likewise patrons of this school for more than a
half century. They lived on a farm a mile south of the schoolhouse. One of
the sons, Noah M., was for many years a merchant in Ligonier, and died in
1896. Jacob Deeds lived northwest of the school, and was the father of a large
family who attended school there. Anthony and Philip Kimmel came to
America from Manheim, a Rhine city in Germany, in 1755, coming with Gen-
eral Braddock's army. At Belle Haven (now Alexandria) near Washington,
they left the army and became farmers. Solomon, a grandson of Philip, came
to ^^'estmoreland county and was a resident of this school district some time
in the thirties. He was the father of a large family, some of whom attended
this school.

The teachers, or masters, of an early day, in addition to those mentioned.
Heidy and McGowan, were William Louther. Peter AlcCjowan, Abel Fisher,
Robert Davison, James Leonard, John Burhl, John Riley, David Everhart,
Jacob Beig. The school was very large then. One term Mr. Fisher had
ninety-two enrolled, and on several days all were present. Abel Fisher was a
son of Abel Fisher, a Quaker, who settled on a farm about two miles north
of the school. The family of the teacher, Abel Fisher, went to school to him.
He was a man of deep religious convictions, and is yet revered as one of the
pioneers in Methodism in Ligonier Valley. He died at his home in 1876.

Robert Davison, a most kindly disposed man, taught there in 1839. 41, 43,
'45 and 1847. He lived a short distance south of the school, and died there
a few years ago, when nearly nlnei_, years old. His brother Thomas taught
a few years ago, and both were deservedly very popular teachers.

In 1849 John G. Albright taught school there, it being his first term as a
teacher. He afterwards taught the same school twelve years, though not in
succession, his last term there being in 1871-72. Mr. Albright was for many
years a surveyor and a justice of the peace. He taught in all about forty
winters.

Charles Davis, who afterward was successfully engaged in the lumber busi-
ness in the northern part of the State ; George W. Phillippi, yet living in Illi-
nois; John ]\Iurdock, a business man of Johnstown; I. M. Graham, editor of
the Ligonier Echo; Holmes Phillippi, who died not long after, were later day
teachers in this school. Many pupils of this school were soldiers in the civil
war. Among them were J. B. McDowell, wounded at second Bull Run ; Port.
Bricker, who afterward went west ; Samuel Murdock, who died in Ligonier
in 1895 ; Major John McClintock, died shortly after the close of the war ; John
Johnson, wounded at Bull Run; John H. Miller, now dead; John McMillen,

4i8 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

killed in the battle of Fredericksburg; George Johnson, of the nth Pennsylva-
nia \'oliinteers: H. Y. iMcDowell, of the 135th Regiment; Jacob, Robert, Shan-
non and Adam Roberts of the Roberts family previously spoken of; Godfrey
JMcDowell and Humphrey Caven were in the 135th Regiment; A. K. Nicely;
James Mathews ; Henry Stom, of the 84th Regiment, was wounded at Chancel-
lorsville and died at Washington, D. C.; Benjamin and Hiram Yealy; Samuel
Weller, of the 211th Regiment, died in front of Petersburg; J. D. Barron, of
the 84th Regiment ; the Fry brothers, four of whom died in Andersonville ;
two of the Shadron brothers, who also died in the service ; Thomas, James and
John Davison, sons of the old teacher ; Reuben Alarks, of the 6ist Regiment ;
Andrew Rankin, A. S. Nicely ; Isaac and Noah and Henry Serena, the latter
of whom was killed ; Israel McDowell, killed in battle ; Hiram, his brother,
was a prisoner in Andersonville.

The second school house at this place was a log structure. A frame house
was erected in 1850, but it was not finished in time, and so there was no school
that winter. About 1872 it was remodeled and made much more attractive,
both inside and out. In 1902 it was torn down after being in use over fifty
years, and a modern frame structure erected. This school has been given
perhaps undue attention, for it is onlv one of many in Ligonier Valley. Yet
in its main feature its early history differs but little from that of the others, or
from many others in the county. It has been taken, therefore, as one whose
early history is fairly representative of all schools founded in the early part
of the last century.

At a meeting in June, 1853. of the Westmoreland County Teachers' Assoc-
iation, John H. Hoopes, S. P. Shryok and S. W. Greer were appointed to
prepare an address to the teachers and patrons of the common schools of the
county, looking toward a better organization among teachers, and better
methods of exchanging ideas and improving each other. In July, 1853, the
address was published in the county papers. Briefly it set forth that a num-
ber of teachers having met in October, 1852, came to the conclusion that it
was high time that a County Teachers' Association should be formed in \\'est-
moreland. A committee was therefore appointed to draft a constitution and
call a general meeting at New Alexandria. The address states that this meet-
ing was called for December 24, and that only about twenty-five teachers were
present. These formed an organization as indicated above, and with great
benefit to themselves remained in session two days, then adjourned to
meet at Madison, in June. Unfortunately, only eight teachers met at
Aladison. The report further urges very eloquently that a regular Teach-
ers' Association should be formed and kept up, and that Township
Associations should be organized in every township in the county. They
urged that whenever this is thoroughly accomplished the friends of pop-
ular education will come out and co-operate with them, and assist them in
building up and elevating the standard of the profession. The address then

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 419

announced meetings of the County Association for Adamsburg in September,
■and New Salem in November, and also that the "Conemaugh Teachers' Insti-
tute" would meet at New Alexandria on October 24, 1853, and continue in
session one week.

Thus began the Teachers' Institute in our county, long since one of the
most popular features of the profession. John H. Hoopes is very nearly en-
titled to be called the father of these meetings. He was an ardent, able and
outspoken friend of the common schools and teacher. He was, moreover,
a very able talker, and had the happy faculty of presenting his theories and
arguments in a practical and interesting manner. The Institute until that
time was not known in our county, and few if any had been held in Pennsyl-
vania, though they had been held both in New England and Ohio, and doubt-
Jess elsewhere, as early as 1840. It is a fact that we may well be proud of that
Westmoreland and Indiana counties were the first in the state to hold the
institutes. The Conemaugh Teachers' Institute was composed of teachers
along both sides of the Conemaugh, very important sections then, for the canal
and its attendant improvements had placed them in advance of other sections.
Their most noted meetings were held in Blairsville, in October, 1852, and in
New Alexandria, in October, 1853. Elders Ridge Academy was then in its
best days and had able instructors who attended these oieetings as special in-
structors. The Blairsville meeting was the one at which the organization was
formed, and when it adjourned it was to meet in one year, that is in October,
1853, at New Alexandria. At the New Alexandria meeting there were
several friends of popular education present from other counties, who ad-
dressed the teachers and carried home with them most glowing reports of the
Conemaugh Institute. Among others was Hon. Thomas H. Burrows, who,
after Thaddeus Stevens, did more for the common schools of Pennsylvania
than any other man of that day. He published in the Pennsylvania School
Journal a glowing account of the teachers' meeting he had attended. It so
aroused the teachers of the state that, before the year was ended, in several
other counties public institutes were held and arrangements were made for
their continuance in the future. All over the state they were organizing, so
that by January i, 1856, nearly every county had perfected a county teachers'
organization. The New Alexandria meeting lasted one week and adjourned
to meet at Saltsburg in October, 1854. The Saltsburg meeting was equally
interesting, but not, of course, fraught with such great results in the state,
for that work had been done by the New Alexandria meeting in 1853. At this
Saltsburg meeting the connection between the teachers of Westmoreland and
Indiana was dissolved by mutual consent, for it was believed that each county
had so grown in the strength of its teachers that they were able to form and
continue separate institutes. These institutes were looked upon with great sus-
picion by many of the "tax-payers" of the county. They were regarded by
some as a scheme of the teachers to have their salary raised. Others thought

420

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

that new studies and new text-books on perfectly useless subjects were about
to be introduced. Nevertheless, they had come to stay, and they have been
greatlv beneficial alike both to the teacher and the pupil. Mr. James I. ]^Ic-
Cormick was then county superintendent of Westmoreland schools, and at
once made arrangements for holding an institute in Greensburg, in October,
1855. He arranged that Mr. Burrows, J. P. Wickersham, of Lancaster, after-
wards state superintendent, and J. H. Stoddard, author and teacher in the east-
ern part of the state, should be present as instructors and lecturers. Froni
that time on teaching became a profession. Teachers were no longer called
"masters." Before that the "master" had "kept" schools, now he was "teach-
ing." The old styled "master" found himself "behind the age."

County Superintendent. — The Act of 1854 established the office of county
superintendent. It was like many other innovations, a very unpopular act at
first, but now, after living under it and testing it thoroughly for more than a
half century, there is probably not an intelligent educator in the state who would
dispense with its main features or with the county superintendent. The great
improvement made in our common schools and in our teachers has, in a great
measure, been due to the county superintendent. The Act of 1854 was ob-
jectionable, but the Act of 1856 amended it so that no one save a practical
teacher with certain literary qualifications could fill the office. Nevertheless, in
our county in the years of 1858 and 1859, the great question agitating the peo-
ple was, whether or not the office should be abolished. Meetings were actually
held in nearly every school district, certainly in every township, to discuss this
riiost infamous measure. The leading men of every commtmity attended these
meetings, and reports of them were published from time to time in the county
papers. The great majority of them, four-fifths of them, at least, adopted
resolutions denouncing both the office and the officer, calling the latter a miser-
able failure, an "expensive and useless burden saddled on a tax-ridden people,"
etc., etc. In nearly all o,f these resolutions they called on the state legislature
to repeal the law and vacate the office at its next session. The same class of
men who opposed the introduction of the printing press, turnpikes, prepaid post-
age, telegraphy, and a hundred other now indispensable measures, now brought
its force against this most important and useful provision. No township was
more advanced in education in that day than Derry, and an expression from
them is therefore in keeping with the general trend of this discussion. The
resolutions adopted by them in a public meeting at school house No. 8. Derry
township, on the evening of February 10, 1859, ^re as follows:

"Resolved, that we consider our schools in a retrograde, in place of a progressive
condition. We view the present law as arbitrary, the power being all placed in the Iiands
of the school board and superintendent, the tax payers having nothing to say.

"That we view with indignation that feature of the law which empowers the teachers
and directors, absolutely combined, to force on any locality a series of books which they
do not prefer, and to debar a series of books which it is the desire of the people to use.

"That we will support no man for the office of school director that will not pledge

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 421

himself if called upon, to cut down the salary of the county superintendent, and use all
honorable means to abolish the office."

One of the earlier meetings of the county was held at "Hickory Spring"
schoolhouse in Unity township. They adopted and published the following
resolution, and it was copied and endorsed by many other meetings in the
county :

"Resolved, that we view with indignation and abhorrence that feature of the law
which empowers the superintendent and directors, combined, to arbitrarily force on any
locality a series of books, when that locality is already supplied with a series they prefer.
We believe that by an easy transition of such laws in their hands many would strike a
death blow at the rights of conscience and triumph over our prostrate liberties."

It is fair to state that at some meetings these resolutions were condemned.
Such was the result of a meeting held at Boyd's No. 5, in Unity township,
early in February, 1859. ]\Ir. Hoopes, to whom we have already referred, very
ably sustained the law in all its features in the public press, the columns of
^vhich seem to have been opened to both sides of the discussion. In his articles
he evinced a tho-rough knowledge of the school law and of the whole history of
the common school movement form the beginning. In a series of articles he
defended his cause in a manner that would do honor to any who have since
written in this line.

Petitions were put in circulation in nearly all sections of the county asking
the legislature to repeal at all events that part of the law which established the
office of county superintendent. Fortunately for our common school system,
the legislature had the fortitude to refuse to comply with these requests, and
the result of the law has successfully proved the wisdom of their action.

The first county supermtendent of schools was Rev. Matthew McKinstry,
of \\'est Xcwton, who was elected in 1854 under the new law. He had served
but one year when he resigned, the opposition to the office having made his
term a very unpleasant one. James I. ]\IcCo.rmick, of North Huntingdon town-
ship, was appointed in his place and filled out the unexpired term of two years.
J. R. McAfee, of Latrobe, was elected in 1857; S. S. Jack, of Pleasant Unity, in
i860, and again in 1863 ; Joseph S. Walthour, of Greensburg, was elected in
1866; H. M. Jones, of Salem township, was elected in 1869, and again in 1872 ;
James Silliman, of East Huntingdon township, was elected in 1875 ; J. R.
Spiegel, of Greensburg, was elected in 1878, and again in 1881. Geo. H.
Hugus, of Latrobe, was elected in 1884, and again in 1887 and 1890. William
IT. Ulrich was elected in 1893, and re-elected in 1896, 1899 and 1902; R. C.
Shaw, of Irwin, was elected in 1905.

Sketches of J. R. INIcAfee and J. R. Spiegel will be found in that part of this
work devoted to the W^estmoreland bar ; of James I. ?\IcCormick in the part de-
voted to the medical profession.

Joseph S. Walthour was born in North Huntingdon township, February 5,

422

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

1829. His grandfather had built Fort Wahhour, famous in the revolutionary
period of our history, and treated of in that part of this work. In 1846 he
began teaching school at Barnes' school, near his home, at eighteen dollars per
month. In 1847, '48 and "49 he attended school in Greensburg. lu 1850, '51
and '52 he taught his home school in North Huntingdon township. After a
short venture in the mercantile business he taught the Byerly school in 1854,
at twenty-two dollars per month. In 1855 h^ taught in the boys' department of
the Greensburg schools, and in 1856, '57, '58 and '59 he taught in New Salem.
After this he taught one or two terms elsewhere in the county, and returned to
Greensburg as a teacher, where he was engaged when elected county superin-
tendent in 1866. His salary in this position was $800 per annum. During his
term as superintendent he traveled somewhat over the state as an instructor at
other institutes, and was favorably received. In 1870 he removed to Albion.
Erie county, where he engaged in teaching, and still later taught at Saeger-
town, Crawford county. Later he taught at Latrobe, New Derry, Saltsburg,
Greensburg, etc., and in fact spent the remainder of his life as a teacher.

When he took charge of the schools as county superintendenfin 1866 there
were 286 schools in the county. In 1867 there were 302 schools in the county,
and in 1868 there were 312. District or Township Institutes were held in
nearly every township in the county, and these served only to add to the in-
terest and attendance of the County Institute, which was now regularly held in-
Greensburg each fall or winter.

Henry M. Jones was born in Salem township October 28, 1828. He was
a son ci John Jones, one of our early associate judges of Westmoreland county.
In 1847 he began teaching at Elwood school, in the northern part of Franklin
township. For the next twenty years he taught mostly in the northern part
of the county, teaching in the winter and summer much of the time. During-
these years he studied the higher mathematics and the dead languages, largely
under the tutorship of his elder brcther. Rev. John ]\I. Jones, of the Presbyter-
ian church. His salary as county superintendent for the first term was $800 per
annum, and when re-elected in 1872 his salary was raised to $1,500. Mr. Jones
worked with much zeal during the years when he was in office, and met with
great success. He suggested many improvements which he has lived to see
adopted. One of these was a uniformity of text-books all over the countv.
After retiring from office in 1875 he travelled and rested a year in the west and
then resumed teaching near his home in Salem township and continued to be
thus employed for some years.

When he began the duties of the office there were 312 schools, and three
were added the first year. There were 200 male and 115 female teachers. The
salary of the male teachers averaged $44.12, and that of females $34.47- The
average cost of instruction per month was ninety-two cents for each pupil. In
his second year there were sixteen new schools added. In his third year six
schools were added. In the fourth year twelve schools were added, and the

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUXTV. 423

same number the year following. In his sixth year, ending June I, 1875, fifteen
new schools were added, making 342 in the county. There were 212 males and
133 females employed, the average salary of the former being $48.50, and
of the latter $38.95.

James Silliman was born in Lancaster county, June 24, 1827, and was of
Quaker descent. He came to East Huntingdon township in 1833, and at-
tended the common schools of our county, and also a higher school in Mt.
Pleasant. He began teaching when he was twenty-one years old (1848), and
continued it until 1875, when he was elected county superintendent. While a
teacher he learned surveying, and paid more or less attention to that w^hile a
teacher.

In 1882 there were 398 schools in the county. The average length of the
term increased gradually, till at this time ( 1882) it w^as five and three-fourths
months. The county institute under Islr. Spiegel, as county superintendent,
was probably more popular than at any time before or since his day, though
we doubt whether it -(vas more profitable to the teachers. The popularity was
due mainly to the noted instructors and night lecturers whom he secured. His
county institutes were held at a time when the field of instructors and lecturers
was filled with great men who could not be equaled by those who came after
him. He had Henry Ward Beecher, T. DeWitt Talmage, Edgar Cowan, John
B. Gough, Theodore Tilton, Daniel Dougherty, A. K. McClure and many others
of national fame. At the session of the institute in 1882, 385 teachers out of a
total of 39B were in attendance.

There are now 476 school houses in the county, with 863 schools. In
eighty-one of these the higher branches are taught. Last year there were
918 teachers employed, of whom all but 115 were experienced teachers, and 287
were teachers who had been graduated at state normal schools, while forty-one
others were graduated from colleges. The average monthly wages paid male
teachers was $58.54, and that paid to female teachers was $45.04. The num-
ber of pupils enrolled was 36,057. The average cost of each pupil per month
was $1.42. The state appropriation, that is the amount which came to West-
moreland schools, was $137,169.92, while the amount of school tax levied for
building schoolhouses, etc., and for school purposes was $438,072.93. The total
expenditure last year for all school purposes was $686,327.30.

424

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

NAME OF DISTRICT

No. of

Cost of

Each

Pupil per

Adamsburg Bore ugh

Allegheny Township

Avonmore Borough

Arnold Borough

Arona Borough

Bell Township

Bolivar Borough

Bridgeport, Independent District

Burrell Lower Township

Burrell Upper Township

Concord, Independent District..

Cokeville Borough

Cook Township

Derry Borough

Derry Township

Donegal Borough

Donegal Township. ........

Fairfield Township

Franklin Township

Greensburg, East Borough. .
Greensburg, South Borough
Greensburg, South West Borough

Greensburg, East Borough

Harmony, Ind. District

Hempfield Township

Huntingdon, East Township. . .
Huntingdon, South Township. .

Irwin Borough

Irwin, North Borough

Jeannette Borough

Lagrange, Ind. District

Latrobe Borough

Ligonier Township

Ligonier Borough

Ludwick Borough

Loyalhanna Township

Livermore Borough

Madison Borough

Manor Borough

Mars Hill, Ind. District

Mt. Pleasant Borough

Mt. Pleasant Township

New Alexandria Borough

New Florence Borough

North Bellevernon Borough.. . .
New Kensington Borough ....

Parnassus Borough

Penn Borough

Penn Township

Fostraver Township

St. Clair Township

Salem Borough '

Salem Township

Scottdale Borough

Sewickley Township

Sulphur Springs, Ind. District .

Union, Ind. Dist

Unity Township

^■erona, Ind. District

\'andergrift Borough

48
470
176
344

192
216
494
182
105
26
134
2.56
648
2192
61
355
420
546
188
238
228
120
31
2314
1916
831
658
111

956
1964
109
181
207
1141
430
197
1176
1136
1.38
118
665
940
206
1.30

? 50.00
39.00
75.00

100.00
48.00
45.00
75.00
50.00
45.00
36.. 50
45.00
.50.00
.34..83i

110.00'
41.. 50
37. ;o
31.60
34.63
40.00
65.00
60.00
60.00
60.00
40.00
48.00
.59.18
43.60
92.50

60.00
100.55
56.45
62.50
60.00

45.00
.50.00
65.00
60.00
69.50
49.04
50.00
60.00
45.00
125.00
100.00

49.11
45.00
46.25
42.50
40.89
102.50
50.00

43.12J
54.80
40.00
35.00
46.67
47.50
45.00
37.33

38.00
33.33i
50.83
41.17

31.24
33.00
40.00
45.00
48.33
50.00
50.00

46.27
51.10
42.38
49.95
48.00

48.33
56.52
35 55
42.00
51.25
36.25

45. CO
46.66
.50.00
51.20
48.36
40.00
41 66
50.00
48.00
53.00
43.75
45.45
45.50
32.50
50.00
40.89
52.50
50.00
45.00

45.91
45.00
54.29

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

425

NAME OF DISTRICT

No. of

No. of

No. of

Male

Female

Schools

Teach-

Teach-

! 14

4

10

16

3

11

4

7

9

3

2

10

1

10

;«»

.5

34

20

3

21

4

4

2

2

3

1

2

4

2

2

3

1

2

Salaries
of Females

Cost of

Each
Pupil per
Month

Washington Township

West Newton Borough

Youghiogheny, Ind. District. . .

Youngstown Borough

Hyde Park Borough

Vandergrift Heights Borough
North Huntingdon Township .

Monessen Borough

Smithton Borough

Vandergrift Borough, East. . .

Youngwood Borough

Sutterville Borough

McMahan Borough

73
512

1401
1087
144
114

i 39.00
80.00
52.50

75.00
53.00
85.00

47.38
46.50
46.. 50
50.00
45.. 50
46.00
53.68
46.25
40.00
50.00

1.801
1.72
1.41
2.09
1.80
1.81
1.41
1.47

l.'l3
1.34

CHAPTER XXVII

The Civil War.

The difficulties between the North and the South which brought about the
Civil War are too well remembered to need more than a passing notice here.
The immediate cause of the war w^as the secession of the Southern States from
the Union which closely followed the election of Abraham Lincoln to the presi-
dency in i860. At the bottom of the long contest was the question of African
slavery, which had been bubbling up and bursting forth at the surface for more
than thirty years. The Southern States erroneously regarded the election of
Lincoln as a warning to them that their power in Congress and in the L^'nion
was at an end. They regarded him as a man of weak mind, who would be a
mere tool in the hands of Northern Abolitionists, and whose administration
would therefore be notably cruel and unjust to them. They thought also that
the prime object of the administration would be the abolition of slavery in the
Southern States. They were wrong in every particular, as has been shown by
later events. There is no doubt now but that the prime object of his official
life was to save the Union, either with or without slavery. In reality, but few
rulers in the world's history have surpassed him in ruling with an iron hand
when heroic ruling was necessary, and none have equaled him in leniency, for-
bearance and charity, when the exercise of such qualities would not injure
the cause most dear to him, viz. : the preservation of the Union. Nor is there
any doubt now, even in the minds of the southern people, but that, had they
remained in the Union as loyal States, Lincoln would have died a martyr to
their cause rather than have an injustice done them. They unjustly con-
demned him without a trial. In this they erred most grievously, and suffered
most bitterly from it in the end.

The first administrative duty of President Lincoln was, therefore, to call
for volunteers to defend the rightful authority of the government against those
who sought to destroy it. In answer to his call for troops, from every northern
state came the same enthusiastic response. Political differences which, but a
few months before, had apparently widely divided the North in a most bitter
contest, were now forgotten in a common effort to sustain the government as
represented by the administration of President Lincoln. Such an uprising of
a people had never before been witnessed. Soldiers came from every walk and

/^^^^^^5^C^

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY

427

calling of life. From the office, the counting-house, the factory, the work
bench and from the green fields they came, asking only to be led where duty
called and danger answered.

The little country state capital of Harrisburg suddenly became a military
depot of stupendous proportions, a camp-ground for soldiers from all parts of
the state. As the troops arrived they were organized, drilled and sent to the
front, each regiment being designated by a number which marked the order
of its organization.

The day following the President's call for troops, our county was ablaze
with excitement. In less than a week thereafter, the Eleventh Regiment was
formed. Companies I and K under Captain Richard Coulter and Captain W.
B. Coulter, respectively, were raised in Westmoreland county. On the elec-
tion of officers. Captain Jarrett was made colonel, and Captain Richard Coulter
lieutenant-colonel. William D. Earnest was elected major. The Eleventh
Regiment was mustered into service on April 26, 1861. The enlistment was for
three months, it doubtless being supposed that by that time the war would be
ended. It was moved almost at once to the front along the enemy's line on the
Potomac river,and there did noble duty in keeping back the advancing line of the
Confederate army. In connection with the First Minnesota Regiment they fought
one of the first battles of the war, viz. : the battle of Falling Waters, and came
ofif the field with victory. While stationed at Martinsburg, south of Falling
Waters, the conduct of the regiment so won the respect of the better citizens
that the ladies of the town presented it with a beautiful flag.

At the close of its term of enlistment it was returned to Harrisburg to re-
cruit, for the organization had been continued by Secretary of War Simon Cam-
eron. Largely through the personal influence of Colonel Richard Coulter it
was recruited and mustered into service for three years. Then came a dispute
as tOi the number it should take. If it had received a new number it would
have been known as the Fifty-first Regiment, and this the officers refused to ac-
cept, for thus the identity of the Eleventh Regiment and the honor of early
enlistment would have been lost. The dispute was finally carried to Governor
Curtin, and the order made by him in settlement of the controversy was no less
complimentary to the regiment than it was mandatory in its terms. It is as
follows; and is dated at Harrisburg, October 26, 1861 :

"The regiment of Pennsylvania volunteers commanded by Col. Coulter will continue
to be known as the Eleventh Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers. It is just to the officers
and men that the regiment should have future opportunities of displaying the courage and
gallantry of Falling Waters, which is now a part of the military history of the State,
under their original designation."

On November 20, 1861, the Governor presented the regiment with its stand'
of colors as provided by the state, and side by side with the flag presented by
the Martinsburg ladies, it was carried till the close of the war. On November
27, the regiment left Harrisburg for Baltimore and reported to Genera! Johr»

428 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

A. Dix. The first duty of the regiment was to guard railroads and other prop-
erty in the use of the goivernment near AnnapoHs, Maryland. It remained in
that vicinity till April i8, 1862, when it was moved into a more active section,
viz.: to Manassas Gap railroad. During the summer of 1862 it was under
■General Pope, participating in the battles of Cedar ^fountain, Rappahannock
Station, Thoroughfare Gap, second Bull Run, Chantilly, South ]\lountain and
Antietam. It bore the most prominent and dangerous part in the battle of
Rappahannock Station, and at Thoroughfare Gap, in connection with a part of
■General Rickett's division, held the Gap against Hill's entire corps, and in all
probability thus prevented Pope's army from being cut to pieces. It was
afterwards with the Army of the Potomac, and did its share at least in the
battles of Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Mine Run, Wilder-
ness, Spottsylvania, North Anna, Tolopotomy, Cold Harbor, Bethesda Church,
Norfolk Railroad, Petersburg, Weldon Railroad, the raid to Hickford, Dab-
.ney's Mills, Hatcher's Run, Boydtown Plank Road, Gravelly Run, Five Forks
and Appomattox.

On January I, 1864, its second enlistment having expired, it re-enlisted as a
veteran regiment, and proceeded to Pennsylvania in February to recruit its
wasted forces. The great name it had earned by this time, its almost national
reputation as a regiment of fighters, made it a special honor to belong to it.
Resultant from this circumstance it was very rapidly filled up by new soldiers,
many of whom had seen service in other regiments, and was again sent to the
front.

In November, 1861, when it first left Harrisburg, it had nine companies with
about 700 men, and another company joined it in August, 1862. Counting all
who were from the beginning to the end of the war borne upon its rolls, its
members aggregate 1890, shewing that about 1150 were added as recruits. It
was finally discharged July 6, 1865, and had at that time only 332 men, show-
.ing that about 1650 men were killed, lost in battle, discharged, etc. It was, at
the close of the war, the oldest regiment in the service from Pennsylvania, and
was the only one whose organization and number were kept up and continued.
There were also the Eleventh Reserves and the Eleventh Cavalry from Penn-
sylvania. So this regiment was always distinguished from the others by being
called the "Old Eleventh." Nothing can speak more favorably no.r more elo-
quently of the bravery and gallantry of this regiment than the figures above
•given and the list of battles in which it participated.

Col. Coulter, since widely known as General Coulter, won a reputation in
both the Northern and Southern armies for bravery and coolness. His three
most distinguishing characteristics in the army, were his utter disregard of per-
sonal danger, his good judgment in the management of his men under all cir-
cumstances, and his energy in executing any purpose or order he undertook.
These qualities made him a commander worthy in every way of the historic
"Old Eleventh." He was a man of vigorous constitution, strong enaug-h to
-withstand the shock of three severe wounds. The first he received at Freder-

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

429.

icksburg, the second at Gettysburg, and the third at Spottsylvania. General.
Coulter was born in Greensburg, and spent his entire civil life as a citizen of
Westmoreland count}-. His first military service was, as we have seen, as a
private in the Mexican War. In his earlier years he was a practicing attorney,
but did not resume this business after the close of the Civil War. At the pres-
ent writing he is one of the leading business men and financiers in Western
Pennsylvania, being engaged in banking and the coal business.

When the usual state flag was presented to this regiment by Governor Cur-
tin on November 20, 1861, it was put in the hands of Charles H. Foulke, of
Company A, who carried it till August 11, 1862, when at Cedar Mountain he
was wounded in the foot. It was then carried by Robert H. Knox, of Company
C, who carried it at Rappahannock Station, Thoroughfare Gap, and at Second
Bull Run, where he lost his right leg, and the flag passed on the field to Samuel
S. Bierer, of Company C, who was wounded the same day. It was then car-
ried by Absalom Schall, of Company C, who was also wounded, but, with its
former bearer, Samuel S. Bierer, carried it to Centerville. Daniel Matthews
carried it September i, at Chantilly, later at South Mountain, and at Antie-
tam, where he was wounded, and it was taken by William Welty, of Company
C, who was killed a few minutes after it was put into his hands. It was then-
given to Frederick Welty, of Company C, who, being wounded, left it on the
field, all the men near it having been either killed or wounded. It was then
carried by Lieutenant Edward ■ H. Gay, of Company E, who being twice
wounded passed it to Henry Bitner, of Company E, who carried it till the close
of the action. At the battle of Fredericksburg, December 12-13, 1862, it was
carried by John V. Kuhns, of Company C, until he fell with three severe
wounds, losing his left leg. It was then carried by Cyrus W. Chambers, of
Company C, who was killed, and it was taken by John W. Thomas of Company
C, who was also wounded. It w:as brought oflf the field by Captain Benjamin
F. Haines, of Company B. John H. JMcKalip, of Company C, took charge of it ■
next, and carried it at Chancellorsville and the first day at Gettysburg, where
he was severely wounded in a charge against a North Carolina brigade. The
flag fell among some bushes, and was found by Michael Kepler, of Company D,.
who carried it during the remainder of the Gettysburg battle, and at Mint
Run, in December, 1863, Kepler being sick, it was given to J. J. Lehman of
Company D, in April, 1864, who carried it in the battle of the Wilderness and
at Spottsylvania, where he was killed, and the flag brought off the field by
Lieutenant McCutchen, of Company F. The next man who carried it, on May
12, at Spottsylvania, was wounded, and William Matthews, of Company C, car-
ried it the remainder of the day, and at North Anna, Cold Harbor, Bethesda
Church, in front of Petersburg, at Weldon Railroad, and in the Hickford raid
in December, 1864. He also carried it at Hatcher's Run, Dabney's Mills, the
Quaker Read, White Oak Ridge, Five Forks, and at Appomattox Court
House, and till May 28, 1865, when he was honorably discharged. John C.
Scheunnan, of Company A, then carried it till the regiment was mustered out

430

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

of service. July 7, 1865. It was delivered to the state authorities July 4, 1866.
Captain Edward H. Gay was one of the bravest and most dashing young
men of the regiment. He was a man of great athletic qualities and used his
strength to a noble purpose. Born in Donegal, October 29, 1842, he came to
Greensburg in 1858 to learn the printer's trade., and on its completion at once
enlisted in the company organized by Captain Richard Coulter. This enlist-
ment being for only three months, in November, 1861, he enlisted in Captain
John B. Keenan's company, raised at and near Youngstown. In less than a
year he was promoted by gradual steps to a captaincy, though not yet twenty-
one years old. In three years' service he was wounded three times — at Antie-
tam twice, and at Gettysburg, and was in thirteen severe battles. He came
home on a short furlough early in 1864, and was engaged in Greensburg as a
recruiting officer, when he was stricken with smallpox, from which he died
March 12, 1864. The day following, he was buried in St. Clair cemetery with
all the honors of war.

FOURTEENTH REGIMENT.

This regiment was organized at Harrisburg, at Camp Curtin. from com-
panies collected from all parts of the state. John W. Johnston, of Westmore-
land county, was made its colonel. He, it will be remembered, had been cap-
tain of the Greensburg company in the Mexican War. The regiment was or-
ganized April 30, 1861, and served till August 7th. It served under General
Patterson, near Martinsburg, Charleston and at Bunker Hill. When its term
of three months' service had expired, nearly all of its members entered the
service of other Pennsylvania regiments. Captain Johnston had taken a com-
pany from near Youngstown, whose members, for the most part, entered the
Eleventh Regiment upon its reorganization under Colonel Richard Coulter.
After that they shared in the most of the military glories and hardships of the
"Old Eleventh."

TWENTY-EIGHTH REGIMENT.

In the early days of June, 1861, Colonel John W. Geary, who had won his
spurs in jNIexico, and was a native of Westmoreland county, was commtssioned
by the President to raise a regiment of Pennsylvania volunteers for three years'
service. He established his headquarters at Philadelphia, and on June 28 had a
regiment ready, which was mustered in as the Twenty-eighth Regiment. The
whole regiment had been uniformed and equipped thoroughly at his own ex-
pense. It was in the battles of Bolivar, Port Royal, Second Bull Run, Cedar
Mountain, Antietam, Gettysburg, Chancellorsville, Lookout Mountain, Peach
Tree Creek, and in Sherman's ever-memorable March to the Sea. In these
battles it achieved a name for bravery which was, we believe, equal to that of
any regiment in the entire army. One of its captains, E. R. Geary, a son of the
colonel of the regiment, captain of Knapp's battery, which was attached to the
regiment, was shot in the forehead by a rifle ball while training a gun on the

/^^^ 5?^ ^^^.^r^i-^^f .^^;^^^

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

431

enemy. Its major was Robert Warden, who died at ^^'inchester, Mrginia,
June 30, 1862. It served three years, and then re-enlisted as a veteran or-
ganization and was finally mustered out July 18, 1865, near Alexandria, \'ir-
^inia.

FORTIETH REGIMENT (ELEVENTH RESERVES.)

Governor Andrew G. Curtin, elected in October, i860, was very enthusiastic
in supporting the administration during the war. By his energj- a number of
regiments were enlisted, the purpose of which was primarily to defend the
southern border of Pennsylvania. When they were first organized the gen-
eral government was not particularly in need of them, and their work was con-
fined ta Pennsylvania. Later, the extremities of the northern cause called
them into the field, and the southern border was left unprotected. They were
called the Pennsylvania Reserves.

Companies H and I, the Eleventh Reserve Regiment, were raised in West-
moreland county. Most of them had offered their services in the three-
months enlistment, but, the quota of Pennsylvania being full, they were not
accepted. They kept up the organization, and when the call for the Reserve
Corps was issued they assembled at once at Camp Wright, near Pittsburgh.
Their regiment was mustered into service July i, 1861, at Washington City,
served till July 14, 1864, and was mustered out at Pittsburgh. ]\Iany of its
veterans were then transferred to the Ofle Hundred and Nineteenth Regiment.
It was noted for its bravery, and made a splendid record in the battles of
JMechanicsburg, Gaines' ]\Iill, Charles City Cross Roads, Malvern Hill, Second
Bull Run, South Mountain, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Gettysburg, Williams-
port, Bristoe Station, Rappahannock Station, New Hope Church, Mine Run,
AMlderness, North Anna, Bethesda Church and at many smaller engagements.
It was assigned to the Second Brigade, commanded by General Meade, of the
Reserve Corps, and Major General George A. McCall. It was thus associated
with the Third, Fourth, Seventh and Thirteenth (the "Buck-tail") Reserve
Regiments, which with it composed the Second Brigade.

The colonel of this regiment was Thomas F. Gallagher, who ranked from
July 2, 1 86 1. He was one of the ablest soldiers Westmoreland county has yet
produced. He was born near Pleasant Unity, in this county, January 17, 1822.
In his early life he engaged in the mercantile business and remained in it till
his death. Prior to the breaking out of the Civil War he had served many
years as an officer in Pennsylvania militia, holding the positions of lieutenant,
captain, major, colonel and brigadier-general. Therefore, when the war came
in 1861, he had had considerable experience in military matters. On the or-
ganization of the Eleventh Pennsylvania Reserve Regiment he was elected
colonel, and was mustered into the service July 2, 1861, at Camp Wright, near
Pittsburgh. While in this capacity his regiment participated in the battles of
Dranesville, Chickahominy, Mechanicsville, Gaines' !Mill, Bull Run and South
]\Ioimtain. At the battle of Gaines" Mill he and his entire regiment except one

432 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

company was captured, and taken to Libby Prison, where he was confined nine
weeks and then exchanged. General McCall, in making a report of the battle
and this capture says :

"The Eleventh Regiment, commanded by Col. Gallagher, were surrounded by the
enemy, and in the heat of the action he was completely enveloped in the smoke of battle.
They continued firing after the rest of the line had retreated. Notwithstanding his perilous
position he kept up a galling fire on the advancing foe. The situation of this brave regi-
ment which had so nobly maintained their ground after all had retreated, was now hope-
less ; their retreat was entirely cut off by the increasing force of the enemy who were
still advancing, and they were compelled to surrender."

After being released from Libby Prison he returned to the army, and was.
promoted to the rank of brigadier-general, and given command of the Third
Brigade. At the battle of South ]\Iountain, September 14, 1862, he was wounded
severely. Being thus disabled for further active service at that time, he re-
signed his command, on December 12, 1862, and returned to his home and
family in Westmoreland county. In 1863, when emergency regiments were
called into the field by Governor Curtin to protect the southern and south-
western border of the state from invasions by the enemy, he was made colonel
of the Fifty-fourth Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers, and was engaged in
that part of the army which looked after and intercepted the raid made by the
famous rebel General John Morgan, who was overtaken and captured by his
regiment. This episode closed his military career during the Civil War. On
the reorganization of the militia of Pennsylvania he was commissioned a major-
general, which rank he held for many years. He was twice elected a member
of the Pennsylvania legislature, serving in that capacity in 1867 and 1868.
Otherwise he neither sought nor obtained political preferment. All of his life
he was attached to the Presbyterian Church. In 1883 he died from a disease
which he contracted in Libby Prison, and was buried in New Alexandria. A
genealogical sketch of the Gallagher family will be found in another volume of
this work.

FORTY-THIRD REGIMENT — THREE YEARS.

Neither this regiment nor any of its companies were raised in Westmore-
land county, but its lieutenant-colonel, George C. Anderson, was for several
years connected with it. He was promoted from second lieutenant to first
lieutenant September 17, 1862; to major, September 20, 1864; and to lieu-
tenant-colonel, November 10, 1864, and mustered out with the regiment.

Rev. Obadiah H. Miller, of our county, was appointed chaplain of the
Forty-first regiment. Twelfth Reserves, on June 18, 1862, and resigned June
9, 1863.

FOURTH C.\V.\LRY, SIXTY-FOURTH REGIMENT.

Companies C and D of this regiment were raised in Indiana and West-
moreland counties. Governor Curtin presented their flag to them on Sep-

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY

433

cember 20, 1S61. The regiment served its term of three years, ami re-enhsted
as a veteran organization. It was mustered out of service July i, 1865, at
Lynchburg, Virginia. It took part in the Peninsular campaign, and was in
the engagements at Gaines' j\Iill, Charles City Cross Roads, Hedgesville, An-
tietam, Alarkham Station, Kelly's Ford, iMiddleburg, Gettysburg, Upperville,
Shepperdstown, Trevilian Station, Tods Tavern, Sulphur Springs, Deep Bot-
tom, St. Mary's Church, Reams Station, Stony Creek Station, Boydtowri
Koads, Wyatts Farm and Belletield.

Its colonel was George H. Covode, one of the most gallant young men West-
moreland sent forth. He was born at Covodesville, August 19, 1835, being the
oldest son of Hon. John Covode, for many years a member of Congress from
this district, and whose character and attainments are given elsewhere in this
work. From his youth he was noted for his athletic proportions, being tall and
well built and peculiarly fitted for the hardships of a military life. He was
educated in Ligonier Academy and at Elders Ridge, then under the super-
vision of Dr. Donaldson. After he left school he was engaged in the mercan-
tile business for some years, but not with great success. In 1858 he was mar-
ried to Annie Earl, of Somerset county, who lived but a few months. In
1 86 1, when the dark clouds of the Civil War were gathering, he was married
to i\Iiss Bettie St. Clair Robb, a granddaughter of Major General Arthur St.
Clair. With the assistance of Dr. George S. Kemble, of Ligonier, Company
D of the Fourth Pennsylvania Cavalry was raised in Ligonier Valley, and tli
young merchant entered it as a private. The company w^as called the "Covode
Cavalry," a name they were not allowed to retain when mustered into the
service. At the election of officers Covode was chosen first lieutenant. The
company was soon transferred to Camp Campbell, near the Soldiers' Home, 11:1,
Washington. Dr. Kemble was promoted and Lieutenant Covode was made
captain of the company. On March 12, 1862, Captain Covode was promoted
to major, after which the company, with its regiment, moved rapidly to the
front. They were in the battle of Malvern Hill, and Major Covode received
flattering recommendations from Generals McClellan and Porter. They then
marched to Yorktown, and later took part in the second battle of Bull Run.

After reaching JMaryland the Fourth Cavalry was under General McClel-
lan. After marching to Frederick City it was assigned to General Averill's
brigade. During the fall of 1862 the regiment was encamped on the north
bank of the Potomac, near Hancock, Maryland, this being the only quiet season
in his military life. At Kelly's Ford, General Averill gained over General
Fitzhugh Lee the first cavalry victory of the war, and the Fourth under Major
Covode was the only regiment of Hooker's command which participated.
From that on they were subjected to almost constant skirmishes. They won
a splendid name at Kelly's Ford, and after that were always called on when a
close combat was at hand.

On his promotion his company presented Major Covode with a brace of

434

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

silver-mounted pistols, one of which he lost in a charge in 1863, while the other
is yet in possession of the Covode family.

The regiment participated in the battles of Antietam, the Seven Days battles,
Chancellorsville, Fredericksburg, and many others. When Lee"s army invaded
Pennsylvania the Fourth did noble service on the bloody field of Gettysburg.
On one occasion, at Falls Church, ^^lajor Covode and a few troops were en-
tirely surrounded by the enemy, but, dashing against them, he used his sword
so skillfully that he opened a way for his men to follow, and all escaped. His
strength made him a power in a hand-to-hand contest of this kind, but in addi-
tion to that he was a man whc^ was almost without personal fear. In camp life
he was jovial, and was alwa}'s unusually good naturcd. When a paper could
be procured he invariably gathered around him a group of soldiers and read
aloud to them. On December 8, 1863, he was promoted to lieutenant-colonel,
and on ]\Iay 28, 1864, was made colonel. His death occurred on June 24,
1864, while in command of a brigade. He was always nearsighted, and mis-
taking some Confederate skirmishers for his own troops, he rode towards
them and was shot in the arm and through the stomach by a volley which came
when he had discovered his mistake and was turning to ride away. In the
retreat his body was left within the enemy's lines. He died a few hours after
being shot. This was in General Sheridan's retreating raid across the coun-
try between the Chickahominy and the James rivers. His body was after-
wards recovered through the exertions of General Gregg, and brought to
Westmoreland for interment in the old family burial ground of West Fairfield,
near his old home. On a quiet elevated knoll overlooking three valleys which
wind in either direction to the mountains beyond, he rests within the same com-
munity through which he wandered and played in childhool. Colonel Covode
left a widow and one child, Sarah Hay, who is now the wife of Air. Charles D.
Davis, of Wishington City. His widow died in 1876.

EIGHTY-FOURTH REGIMENT (THREE YEARS SERVICE.)

This was organized at Harrisburg in 1861 and 1862. The enlistment was
for three years, at the close of which most of its abler soldiers were transferred
to the Fifty-seventh Regiment and mustered out of service with it, June 29,
1865. It was in the battles of Winchester, Port Royal, Port Republic,
Second Bull Run, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Kelly's Ford, Mine Run,
\\'ilderness, Spottsylvania, North Anna, Tolopotomv, Cold Harbor, Peters-
burg, Strawberry Plains, Deep Bottom and Poplar Spring Church.

Company C of this regiment was the only one from Westmoreland county.
It was raised by J. J. Wirsing and William Logan, in the townships of Done-
gal, Cook and Ligonier. In the summer of 1862 these young men rode through
the coimtn,- and secured about forty enlistments in Cook and Donegal town-
ships. Logan was older than Wirsing, and was made captain, while Archibald
Douglass was made first and J. J. Wirsing second lieutenant. Before the com-

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 435

pany had served a year Lieutenant W'irsing was made its chief commanding
officer.

They marched from Donegal to Ligonier, pausing on the way to "camp"
at a religious camp meeting then being held near Stahlstown. At Ligonier
they were entertained right royally by the citizens for several days while they
were adding to their forces, and were drilled in the public square by Captain
0"Harra. The Ligonier people then took them to Latrobe in wagons, and they
were soon on their way to Harrisburg. But the army was' not needing soldiers
then, and the Governor could not receive them. They called themselves the
"Foster Guards," named after Hon. Henry D. Foster, of Greensburg. He
was a personal friend of Secretary of War Cameron, and in that way Foster
had them mustered into the service as Company C of the Eighty-fourth Reg-
iment. They were in the battle of Fredericksburg, at Chancellorsville, the
Wilderness, Spottsylvania, and with the regiment participated in all the
battles up to and including the surrender of General Lee at Appomattox.

The captain of the company, J. J. Wirsing, was wounded seven times, and
at the battle of Poplar Spring Church, October 2, 1864, he was so severely
wounded that, being left on the field for dead, he was taken prisoner and con-
fined some time in Libby Prison. Xot being able, because of these wounds,
to perform further military service, he was paroled and discharged as a pris-
oner of war from the hospital at Annapolis, Maryland, on January 3, 1865.

The Civil War came. at a time when there were but few militia organizations
in the country. The few that existed formed the basis of regiments that were
soon hurried to the front. The southern army were successful in the early
part of the war, and this emboldened them to venture into the northern states.
The southern border of Pennsylvania was a wealthy agricultural region, was
entirely unprotected, and therefore a very inviting field for an invading army.
The Reserve Corps had, as we have seen, been called away to assist McClellan.
But Pennsylvania had a most excellent war governor, Andrew G. Curtin, who
saw the weak condition of our southern boundary and at once called out our
militia. This was on the loth of September, 1862. He recommended the
immediate formation of companies throughout the state, and that they should
be drilled and instructed in the art of arms. He also recommended that after
three o'clock each day business houses should be closed, so that those thus
engaged shculd have more opportunity to prepare themselves for home defense.
In many sections this was done. Men enrolled themselves, selected officers,
and purchased such arms as they could obtain. There were four companies
raised in Westmoreland at this time under the Governor's suggestions. On
September loth the southern army was in Maryland, and an invasion of Penn-
sylvania seemed very probable. The Governor called for fifty thousand of
these militia to assemble at Harrisburg. They marched at once, and many
reached Hagerstown, Chambersburg and Harrisburg, where they were put
imder the command of General John F. Reynolds. But, fortunately, the south-

436

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

ern armv was defeated at Antietam, after which they were driven across the
Potomac in great confusion, so the militia were allowed to return home, but
not without realizing that they had done their duty. General :McClellan wrote
Governor Curtin as follows: "Fortunately, circumstances rendered it impos-
sible for the enemy to reach Pennsylvania, but the moral support rendered my
army b\- your action was none the less mighty. The manner in which the jseo-
ple of Pennsylvania responded to your call and hastened to the defense of their
frontier no doubt exercised a great influence upon the enemy."

In the four companies raised in Westmoreland county were many who had
seen service in earlier campaigns. They were raised in a few days.

Another attempted raid on Pennsylvania was made by the southern army,
this time under General Lee, in the spring of 1863. This was after his victory
over the Union forces at Fredericksburg. There was scarcely any army here
to oppose him, and, being several days in advance of the Union army, his
expedition was practically without opposition. The general government called
for troops from the states nearest, and the call included fifty thousand from
Pennsylvania. Our state had become disheartened by the reverses our army
had suffered. They were furthermore willing to protect Pennsylvania, but
feared the call from the government meant that they should not be allowed to
remain here when the invading army was repelled. Little was accomplished
till after the battle of Gettysburg. Then the Governor gave them his word
that they should not be called on to go out of the state, nor be detained bevond
the emergency which called them into the field. He also allowed them to enlist
for either six months or during the emergency. There was some reason for
this backwardness in enlisting. Our able-bodied men were already largely at
the front, and those who were here were badly needed at home, even when
there was no invading army to dispel. Our county furnished two cavalrv
and seven infantry companies for this exigency. The infantry companies were
in the Fifty-fourth, Fifty-seventh and Fifty-eighth regiments. The Fifty-
fourth and Fifty-seventh were commanded by General F. H. Brooks, and were
stationed near Pittsburgh. The rebel cavalry leader. General John H. Morgan,
was then raiding Indiana and Ohio. The Fifty-fourth and Fifty-seventh were
sent down the Ohio to apprehend him. It is to the credit of these troops that,
though not required to do so, they went out of the state willingly when the
success of the expedition and its speedy termination seemed to require it.
Many of the Westmoreland troops had seen considerable service in the earlier
part of the war. Others introduced into the army in this way enlisted regularly
afterward, and went to the front.

CHAPTER XXVHI

The Court Houses. — County Home.

Tlie court house which by our present generation is known as "the old court
hotise,"' was built in 1854. This was really, in one sense of the word, the
fourth court house of the county, though it is usually regarded as the second.
The first place of holding court when the county was formed, as has been seen,
was Robert Hanna's house. While it was not owned by the county, it served
as a court house for thirteen years, and they were very important years in our
formative period. The next court house was the temporary structure built
when the county seat was first removed to Greensburg. The next was a much

SECOND COURT HOUSE, 1801-1854

more substantial building, which has been described in these pages, and which
was completed in 1801, and stood until 1834. On 'Slay 6th of that year the county
commissioners began to remove it preparatory to erecting a new one. The bus-
iness of the county had outgrown the old one, and in pursuance of a present-
ment from the grand jury, with the sanction of the court, measures were taken
for the erection of another.

The courts were held in the IMethodist church from the time the old court
house was taken down until the new one was ready for occupancy. The con-
tract for the new court house and jail was let to Bell & Arnold in 1853, ^or

438

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

$39,614. The plans were prepared by an architect named J. Edgar. On
further consultation the commissioners saw fit to reject the plans of J. Edgar,
and substitute a plan, furnished by Samuel Sloan, an architect of Philadelphia.
Sloan's plans were more comprehensive and more expensive, and this required
another contract which was made in 1854, by the terms of which the county
was to pay $46,700, and a further sum for such improvements or changes as they
should make.

On October 24, 1854, the corner-stone of the court house was laid with due
ceremonv. Many prominent citizens of the county were present to participate,
for the event had been widely heralded. Prayers were offered by Revs.
Giesey and Valentine, and addresses were delivered by Henry D. Foster and
Edgar Cowan, two of the ablest lawyers our county has yet produced. A

THIRD COURT HOfSE, BlILT IS.M.

copper box containing copies of the census of 1850, the county papers of that
week, Justice Coulter's description of the burning of Hannastown, and other
matter which they thus sought to hand down to further generations, was
placed in the corner-stone. It was on the southeast corner of the court house,
on the corner of Main and West Pittsburgh streets.

The commissioners and the contractors did not get along well together,
and in August, 1855, the contract with Bell & Arnold was rescinded by mutual
consent of both parties. In the same month a new contract was made with
Johnston & McFarh.nd — A. A. Johnston, of Youngstown, and John INIcFar-
land, of Ligonier, Pennsylvania. They agreed th^t the court house should be
finished and ready for use in time to hold the May term of court in it in 1856,
and that all of the work should be completed by August of that year. They

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 439

were to receive $27,688 for their work. They performed the work practically
as they stipulated. There were several other smaller contracts in addition to
the main ones, such as for shelves, wainscoting, railings, etc., and it is therefore
difficult to determine at this late day the exact entire cost. It was about
$90,000, perhaps a few thousand more rather than less than this sum, but it
did not reach $100,000.

The court house was erected on the same lot which its predecessors had
occupied, viz. : the northwest corner of j\lain and West Pittsburgh streets.
It had a beautiful facade on its southern end. It was about twenty feet from
the pavement line on both streets. Its dimensions were one hundred and thirty
feet in length along Main street, by sixty-two feet in width along West Pitts-
burgh street. Two of its sides, the eastern and southern, were built of cut
sandstone, while the other two were of brick, covered with cement to resemble
stone. The approach to the building from the south was by twelve or fourteen
large stone steps which extended along the whole end of the building. The
main passage on the first floor was cruciform, the stem extending north and
south from end to end of the building, with the transept in the center of the
building, running east and west. The cruciform passage was ten feet wide
throughciit, and was very prettily floored with tile. The lower story was used
entirely for offices of the county officers. There were two stairways leading
to the second story. A large double one at the south end was used by the pub-
lic generally, while a smaller one at the north end was used mostly by the
judges, attorneys, etc. The main part of the second floor was used as a court-
room. It was about fifty-fovir by sixty-two feet, and in addition to being
used as a court room was used for all kinds of public meetings. It was for
many years the largest room in Greensburg, but by political meetings, public
lectures and even during the trial of important or sensational cases, was fre-
quently crowded to overflowing. The ceiling was twenty-four feet high, and
the acoustic properties were always bad. The facade on the south end and
the large dome surmounting all, added greatly to the appearance of the build-
ing, and rendered it indeed a most handsome structure. It was used until
the business of the county again outgrew it, and then after several presentments
from grand juries practically condemning it, it was fin?.lly razed to the ground
in the summer of 1901.

In connection with it when it was built was also a jail and a residence for
the sheriff of the county. Prior to its being built in 1854, the sheriff rented his
own house, and sometimes did not live near the jail. But a new law provided
that the county should furnish a house for him, in close proximity with the
jail, and lience the building of the sheriff's residence in connection with the
jail in 1854. They were west of the court house with an alley between it and
them. They were both inferior buildings, and were condemned by several
grand juries long before the court house built at the same time had passed
its day of usefulness. They were both taken away in 1882, and a splendid

'440

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

double structure costing about $150,000 was erected in 1883. While this was
'being done the prisoners were kept at the county home, two and one-half miles
soutli of Greensburg.

The old method of maintaining the poor pursued by Westmoreland county
authorities, that is, of boarding them over the county at such terms as could
be arranged for, was neither satisfactory nor economical. Accordingly, on the
passage of the act of April 5, 1849, a "ew and better system was inaugurated.
The act allows the purchase of a farm, the erection of buildings, and provides
for the election of directors, the appointment of a physician, etc. By the act
which applied to Westmoreland county alone, Benjamin Byerly, John Kuhns,
Sr., John Trout, Samuel Hill, Thomas Trees, John C. Plumer, Henry McBride,
Robert Hitchman, Joseph Budd, John IMcFarland, John Hill, Joseph Cook,
Joseph Jack, John A. Hays and Jacob Dible were appointed commissioners and
charged with the duty of purchasing, on or before the first day of January,
1850, such real estate as they thought proper for the accommodation of the
poor of Westmoreland county. Another section provided that a vote should
be taken in October, 1849, in the county, with tickets marked "For a Poor
House," and also tickets marked "Against a Poor House." If a majority
voted in favor of the poor house the act was to take effect, otherwise to be con-
sidered null and void. The election was held, and the people decided in favor
of a poor house, and the commissioners named in the act proceeded to carrv
out its intents and purposes. They purchased one hundred and eighty acres
from William Snyder, about two and one-half miles south of Greensburg, in
Hempfield township, for $6,000. They took possession of it on April i, 1850.
Three directors were elected in the fall of 1850, who proceeded to erect a
building on this land suitable for the reception of the poor of the county.
They expended $9,092.24. It was a very creditable building considering the
small amount of money expended on it, and, with a few outbuildings added
later, served its purpose very well. But on August 20, 1862, it was totally
destroyed by fire. The contents of the building were nearly all saved. The
unfortunate inmates were brought to Greensburg and kept in the jail till
arrangements could be made for them elsewhere.

In a few days a contract was entered into with Lyon & Bierer to erect a
new building, or rather to rebuild the old one. for the brick walls had been
but slightly injured by the fire. The new structure cost $5,716.50. It was
one hundred and fifty feet long and fifty feet wide, and was three stories
high. A writer in 1865 speaks of the abundance of wood and stone coal on
the farm, and says :

"The hraise is therefore well healed at a small cost. The inmates have good clothes
:ind shoes when necessary. They are allowed three full meals each day, consisting of
bread, soup and vegetables and flesh. At two of the meals they are given fresh meat and
coflfee. One plug of tobacco is given every week to those who use the weed, and to those

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 441

who work more tobacco is given according to their needs. \\'hen heavy work is to be
(lone such as harvesting and thrashing, the steward gives whisky in moderate quantities
to those who require some stimulation. There are one hundred and fifteen men, women
and children in the poor house, and the number increases in the winter time and dimin-
ishes in the summer time. Of the present inmates forty-four are women, fifty men and
twenty-one are children. There are twelve insane and idiotic women and girls, and six
insane and idiotic men and boys."

This second building was destroyed by fire in December, 1878, and im-
mediately afterwards a much larger and more modern building, the one now in
use, was constructed on the same location.

CHAPTER XXIX

Agriculture.

j\s lias been seen by the reader who has followed us through these pages,
for the greater part of the time since Braddock cut his rude way across our
county, our inhabitants have been chiefly engaged as tillers of the soil. Our
pioneer farmers found the country almost entirely covered with a dense forest.
To cut this away and let the sunlight shine in. that the seeds planted might
spring forth and bear fruit, was their first and most onerous duty. For more
than a century the wealth of our county consisted almost entirely in the value
of the soil, viewed from an agricultural standpoint. The hills and valleys
were prized then not for what lay beneath the su face, nor for what they might
bring as building sites, but solely for the value of the crops of grain which they
could produce, and the live stock which might be bred and fattened upon their
yearly outgrowth.

Our early farmers and farm makers have sometimes been censured by
our present generation for what is termed the profligate destruction of timber
in the tirst half of last century. In this a great injustice has been thought-
lessly done them. In no other way could the country have been developed
and its real wealth made known. Each section had to be of necessity self-sus-
taining, and, to make it so, their first duty was to tame the land and bring
it under the hand of cultivation. The privations and hardships of the early
farmers are scarcely appreciated as they should be by the present generation,
which has reaped from their labor more than they themselves did. It is neither
true nor fair to say that, while they were wresting a scant livelihood from the
surface of the earth, they were ignorant of mines of marvelous wealth which
lay concealed beneath their feet. The coal, iron, gas, rock, etc., which have
smce contributed so much to the wealth of the county, were without value in
their day, and without the preliminary labor performed by pioneers, would
necessarily have remained valueless for all time.

In the early days of Westmoreland agriculture the product was largely
rye, a cereal which was not only suited to the new ground, but which could
be readily converted into whisky, for which there was always an open market.

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 443

^lost farmers were, therefore, interested in opposing the tax on whisky,
which brought about the \\'hisky Insurrection. Moreover, the new ground
was, in their opinion, better adapted to the cultivation of rye than of wheat,
though this statement is not borne out by later experience. Early in the last
century, when turnpikes and canals opened up a transportation to the eastern
cities, our farmers began to raise more wheat and corn than they needed for
home consumption, and shipped the fiour East in barrels. Turnpikes also fos-
tered the raising of live stock, and droves of cattle, horses and sheep became in
some seasons of the year almost an every dav occurrence. Thus it was that good
roads have in the past proved to be the salvation of rural communities. The
people of the county are now alive to this matter, and the next decade will
undoubtedly see much advancement in good road making.

Railroad building, which began in Westmoreland county with the latter
half of the last century, added a new impetus to agriculture. With increased
facilities for transportation the farmer learned to raise the crops best adapted
to his soil. These he could readily dispose of, and with the income could pur-
chase such commodities as he and his family most needed. During the civil
war, when prices were high, they relaxed somewhat from this rule, and tried
more or less to produce on the farms such commodities as their families stood
in greatest need of. With a great army in the field to clothe, wool advanced
in price till it sold readily at one dollar or even more per pound. The W^est-
moreland farmer readily adapted himself to the new situation, and thousands
of hills were forthwith dotted with sheep.

As a general proposition the hills are well adapted to grazing, and the
alluvial deposits which form the river and creek bottoms produce luxuriant
crops of corn, oats, rye and grass, while wheat is more readily produced on
higher ground. In the course of a century rye, from holding the highest place
among the cereal products of the county, has taken the lowest. Following up
the idea that the farmer should produce the commodity best suited to his soil
we have hundreds of farmers who produce little else than milk, which our
railroad facilities enable them to ship readily to the town markets. Still others
produce cattle or horses almost exclusively.

The great strides which the county has made in the last quarter of a cen-
tury in mining, manufacturing and railroad building, prompt us sometimes to
almost forget that we are still strong in agriculture. By a table found else-
where in these pages, it will be learned that the assessed value of the rural
communities for the year 1905 was $42,488,766, while that of the borough
was $31,858,814. But this is not an entirely fair statement, for many coal
works are assessed with the township property, though they have really no
connection with agricultural wealth. But no such objection can be urged to
the Report of the Census Bureau for 1900. From the Census Bulletin on Agri-
culture, Xo. 207, issued June 24, 1902, (page 3) we collate the following facts
relative to farm statistics in Westmoreland county. There were at that time

444

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

5,402 farms in the county, of which all but sixty were supplied with farm
buildings. The aggregate acreage of these farms was 515,729, or a fraction
over ninety-five acres for each farm. This is about nine acres more than the
average acreage of the farms of the state. The value of the land, exclusive of
the buildings, was $20,786,820, while the buildings were valued $8,527,570, the
total valuation of farms and buildings being $29,314,390, or $5,426 per farm.
There were $1,419,530 invested in farm implements and machinery, and
$2,867,619 worth of live stock, making a total valuation of farms, buildings,
machinery and live stock, of $33,531,539. This shows an average value of
farms, including buildings, machinery and live stock, of $6,207. The gross
income of these farms, not including products fed to live stock, was $3,776,966,
or an average of $884 per farm.

There is, in fact, only one item in which we seem to fall below other coun-
ties that might reasonably be compared with Westmoreland, and that is in the
amount of money expended annually for fertilizers. We expended $65,600 to
that end during the year, as against $172,680 in Montgomery county ; $366,-
700 in Lancaster county; $337,160 in Bucks county, and $370,380 in Chester
county. The solution of this is partly due to the fact that Westmoreland is so
generally underlaid with limestone that but little expenditure is necessary for
fertilizers. Our soil, moreover, being naturally rich in potash, needs little more
than the application of lime in its caustic form to free the potash and make
it available to growing plants. The phosphoric acid necessary in the produc-
tion of the cereal crops we grow is comparatively cheap, while, in the other
counties named, many farmers are engaged in market gardening, and therefore
need a fertilizer which induces a large leaf growth. They must therefore re-
sort to the use of more nitrogen, which is the most expensive element of plant
food found in the market.

CHAPTER XXX

Iron.

Iron was manufactured and used by man, though in a primitive manner, in
the earhest ages of antiquity of which we have any knowledge. It was per-
haps first used in Western Asia, the original home of the human race. Tubal-
Cain, who was removed from Adam but seven generations, is described in the
first book of the Bible as "An instructor of all artificers in brass and iron."
In a revised edition of the Bible he is called "The forger of every cutting in-
strument of brass and iron." The Egyptian civilization is the oldest of which
we have any knowledge, dating back even to the second generation after Noah,
and its earliest literature is replete with references to the making and using of
iron, although modern research has discovered but little iron ore in Egypt.
Herodotus, the Father of History, makes mention of iron tools being used in
the construction of the pyramids, speaking of their use not as a novelty, but
rather as a matter of course. Thebes and Memphis are cities of such great
antiquity that their origin is lost in the twilight of obscurity, yet antiquarians
believe that sickles were used in those days, and that the butchers of Thebes
and Memphis used tools of iron and steel. The Historical Society of New
York has a helmet, a chain armour, breast-plate and other pieces of iron, that
are known to be over three thousand years old, and yet they evince consider-
able skill in their manufacture. Pieces of iron were taken from under the
obelisk which was brought to New York from Alexandria in Egypt in 1880,
yet it was erected fifteen hundred years before the birth of Julius Caesar. Iron
was known to be used among the Chaldeans, the Babylonians and the Assyr-
ians, who flourished in the age of the early Egyptians.

The book of Job, one of the oldest of all written manuscripts, treatino-
alone, as one does, of the period between Abraham and Moses, has many re-
ferences to iron, and even to "bars of iron," "barbed irons," "the iron weapon"
and to the "bow of steel," the latter reference clearly showing a knowledge of
the flexibility of steel. In Ecclesiasticus 38 -.28. we have, "The smith also sitting
by the anvil, and considering the iron work, the vapor of the fire wastest his
flesh, and he fighteth with the heat of the furnace; the noise of the hammer

446 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

and anvil is ever in his ears, and his eyes look still upon the pattern of the
thing he maketh ; he setteth his mind to finish the work, and watcheth to polish
it perfectly."

When Caesar invaded England he comments that he found the early
Britons using iron money, but nowhere does he intimate that they fought his
armies with iron weapons. Iron was not so generally used in Great Britain in
the earlv centuries as it was in other countries. The Scots, who invaded
England in the reign of Edward II, stole iron from the English in preference
to any other plunder they could lay their hands on, showing that it was a scarce
article among them at home. The English people did not know that iron
could be made without charcoal, and for many centuries discountenanced its
manufacture, because the burning of the necessary charcoal used up their tim-
ber too rapidly. Their supply of forests has always been limited, and they
have wisely preserved them. Accordingly, until they learned to smelt iron
with coal or its products, of which they have an abundance, they encouraged
the purchase of iron from Spain, Sweden and Russia. About 1755 the ef-
ficacy of coke in smelting iron ore was discovered in England, and at once
the manufacture of iron became more general. So they have had but few
charcoal furnaces in England in the last one hundred and fifty years.

But a vastly dififerent situation confronted the early Americans in man-
ufacturing iron. Here they were fortunately surrounded by unlimited acres of
timber which must necessarily be cleared away. It was, therefore, compara-
tively easy to make charcoal, easier, indeed, than to make coke, even though
they had been near the coal fields suitable for its manufacture. Our first
iron in America was, therefore, exclusively charcoal iron, that is, iron made
from ore melted by heat produced by charcoal. To make iron in small quanti-
ties from carbonate iron ore is a very simple process, and this perhaps accounts
for its early and general use in the ages past. Iron ore can be smelted in an
ordinary blacksmith's forge, and a certain grade of iron, though perhaps of
inferior quality, can thus be produced. Generally speaking, iron ore can be
smelted only where the heat of the fire is intensified by the blast of air, such
as a smith forces through his forge by means of his bellows. This principle
was used in the smelting of iron ore when the only known bellows was the
skin of the goat, by which simple means the necessary blast of air was pro-
duced for untold centuries. And this blast of air is as essential in the manu-
facturing of iron to-day as it was then, for the most modern iron furnaces have
not gotten beyond the original principle, although the method of making the
blast, we need scarcely suggest, is no longer the primitive one of the ancient
manufacturer.

Much of the early iron was made by the simple process of digging a hole
in the ground, not unlike a well, and generally in the side of a hill. This hole
was then filled with aUernate layers of charcoal and iron ore. Being on the
hillside, they easily tapped the bottom of the hole, or well, from below, and

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 447

through this small opening forced the blast of air with the bellows made of
goat-skin. When the layers of ore were sufficiently heated by the burning
charcoal, fanned- as it was from the blast below, the molten iron by its own
weight dropped to the bottom of the well, or furnace, and thus they had pro-
duced iron, though necessarily in small quantities.

The credit of the discovery of iron ore in America is due to the renowned
Sir Walter Raleigh. In an expedition which he fitted out in 1585, intending
to plant a colony on Roanoke Island, in searching for gold, as all the early
explorers did, they discovered iron ore instead, and the year following re-
turned to England and reported their discovery. The historic colony of James-
town, \'irginia, in 1607 discovered iron ore, and in 1608 shipped seventeen tons
of metal, having sold it to the East India Company at four pounds per ton.
This was the first iron made by Europeans from American ore. Still later
iron was found in all the Atlantic states, and attempts, some successful and
some futile, were made to manufacture it into iron. At Lynn and Braintree,
^Massachusetts, the business was early carried on with considerable success,
and as the colonies west of Massachusetts were founded, the iron industry was
not neglected. It thus spread over New York, New Jersey and eastern Penn-
sylvania, so that long before the Revolutionary war we had iron furnaces
scattered over our colonial possessions as far west as eastern Pennsylvania.
These stood us in good stead during the Revolution, for they made canister
and many other materials for the patriot army.

In 1789 William Turnbull and Peter jNIarmie, of Philadelphia, built a fur-
nace and forge on Jacob's Creek, in Fayette county. The furnace was put in
blast November i, 1790, and the metal was tried the same day in the forge.
A forge was used exclusively in converting the metal into iron, this being
done by the simple process of pounding the bars of pig iron, while highly
heated, on an anvil, with an immense hammer. The metal was thus reduced
to iron, and the same results were brought about which arc now accomplished
by rolling the heated bars between the rollers of a rolling mill. The furnace
of Turnbull & ^larmie was a mile or more above the mouth, of Jacob's Creek
and on the Fayette side of the creek. It was known as the Alliance Iron .
Works, and was the first attempt at making iron west of the Allegheny moun-
tains. In 1792 this company engaged to cast four hundred six-pound shot
for the Fort Pitt arsenal. The furnace was operated regularly until 1802,
when it went out of blast. The ruins of it may yet be seen. ]\Iarmie was a
Frenchman, and was afterwards unfortunate in business. Disappointment and
sorrow drove him to suicide, which he committed by plunging into the mouth
of a heated furnace. He had been connected with Craig & Bayard in the iron
trade in Pittsburgh when the business was in its earliest infancy.

The Union Furnace, on Dunbar Creek, about four miles south of Connells-
ville. was the second furnace of western Pennsylvania. It was built by Isaac
IMeason in 1790, and put in blast the year following. In 1793 the works were

448

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

enlarged, and by an advertisement in the Pittsburgh Gazette of April lo, 1794,
it is learned that they had "A supply of well sorted castings which they will
sell out for cash" at a sum which would equal $93.33 per ton.

There were three requisites necessary to be found before the iron business
could be successfully engaged in in western Pennsylvania. First, the projector
must discover a bed of iron ore near the proposed site of the furnace, for the
ore was too heavy to transport long distances in wagons. Second, there must

VLLIANCE IRON WORKS

be a large tract of timber land from which to manufacture the charcoal used
in smelting the ore. This, when the country was new, was the easiest found,
for our land was nearly all originally clad with a dense forest of large trees.
Third, there must be water power to furnish the necessary blast of air, for
even in that day the industry had passed the goat-skin or hand-worked bellows
age. Limestone for the purpose of fluxing the metal was used then as now.

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 449

and, though requisite to its manufacture, the quantity used was so small that it
could be hauled on wagons even for miles.

\'ery early in western Pennsylvania, carbonate iron had been discovered
in what was then regarded as large quantities. When William Crawford, the
first judge of Westmoreland county, was removed from the bench because
of his affiliations with Virginia in the boundary question, he became surveyor
for Yohogania county, which, though in southwestern Pennsylvania, was
claimed and laid out by Virginia. In his survey book, under date of July ir,
1780, he made an entry of a tract of land warranted to Benjamin Johnston,
and described it as "Being on the Yohogania river, and to include a bank of
iron ore." This is the first notice we have of the discovery of iron ore in
western Pennsylvania, but we are not able to say when its discovery was first
made in Westmoreland county, but it doubtless followed or preceded that date
very shortly, for iron was a necessity in the new and growing county, and
men were prospecting for it and for other minerals in every direction. It will
be remembered in this connection that at that date the only method of secur-
ing iron was by transporting it on pack-horses from east of the Allegheny
mountains.

Our first furnace was built in 1794, and was located one and one-half miles
south from the present village of Laughlinstown, in the Ligonier Valley. It
was called Westmoreland Furnace, and was near the banks of the run now
known as the California Furnace run, which flows into the Loyalhanna about
two and one-half miles south of Ligonier. It was built by Christopher Lo-
bengier and brother, who also built a small forge in connection with it. It
had, like most furnaces of that day, a casting house, or foundry, in connection
with the furnace. This we learn from the newspapers, in one of which, on
August I, 1795, George Anshutz, the manager of Westmoreland Furnace,
advertises stoves and castings for sale. Mr. James M. Swank, of Philadelphia,
the leading authority on iron production in the United States, has in his pos-
session a stove plate which he prizes very highly, for it was cast in that furnace
in 1800 by John Probst, the fact being so marked by raised letters on the
casting. Grape and canister shot from three-fourths to one and one-half inches
in diameter were made at Westmoreland Furnace for the War of 1812. It is
highly probable that neither the furnace nor the forge were long in operation.
Both were most likely abandoned by 18 15. The accompanying illustration is
a correct view of the mass of ruins now representing all that is left of this
first venture of the iron industry in Westmoreland county.

The second furnace was built by Major General Arthur St. Clair, after he
returned from the governorship of Ohio. It was built in 1803, and was called
Hermitage Furnace. It was located one and one-half miles northeast of Lig-
onier, on the well known pike leading to Johnstown. He built it with the hope
of recuperating his wasted fortune, but in this, as in many other ventures, he
was sadly disappointed. It was managed for him by James Hamilton. From

450

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

the Farmers' Register, printed in Grecnsburg by John ]\I. Snowden, in the
issue of November 21, 1806, we take an advertisement having for its caption,
^"Hermitage Furnace in Blast," signed by Henry Weaver & Son, merchants
in Greensburg, and dated September 12, 1806. The advertisement read as fol-
4o\vs :

"Tlie subscribers, being appointed Agents by General Arthur St. Clair, for the sale
of his castings generally, and for the Borough of Greensburg exclusively, give notice that
they wWX contract with any person or persons for the delivery of castings and stoves
for any number of tons, on good terms. Samples of the castings and stoves to be seen
.at their store, in Greensburg, at any time after the 20th inst."

RUINS 01- WESTMORELAND FURNACE.

At Hermitage Furnace they were compelled to use a small amount of
coal in the blacksmith shop,- and this was packed in sacks from a mine then
opened near Lockport, on the Conemaugh river, a distance of about twelve
miles. This method was kept up until 1807 or 1808 when the great flood came
which has been known since as the "Pumpkin Flood." This washed away t'he
surface ground in several places near Ligonier, and exposed the outcrop of the
previously unknown Pittsburgh seatni of coal. After that they opened coal

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY

451

banks and used their own instead of the Lockport coal, so that in 1818, when
lots were advertised for sale in Ligonier, it was stated as an inducement that
several coal banks were opened within a mile or two of the proposed town.

Shortly after 1806 General St. Clair abandoned the management of the
furnace himself, and leased it, with his mill and some other property, to some
Pittsburgh capitalists for $3,000 per annum. The story of his creditors clos-
ing in on him in the hard times which followed the embargo has been told in
the St. Clair sketch published elsewhere in this volume. In 1810 it was sold
from him by the sherifif, and purchased by James O'Hara. It stood idle until
hard times ceased, and in 1816 was again put in blast by O'Hara and Skully,
under the management of John Henry Hopkins, who was not by any means
successful. Hopkins lived in the St. Clair mansion, for by this time St. Clair
was nearing the end of his days in poverty and neglect, in a log cabin on Chest-
nut Ridge. Hopkins equipped the mansion with many evidences of refinement
and wealth. In 1817 the furnace was closed down and never operated again.
Hopkins left the place bankrupt, and his goods were sold at sheriff's sale. Rob-
ert Armour attended the sale and purchased several pieces of mahogany furni-
niture, which are yet preserved by his grandsons, the Armour, brothers of
Laughlinstown. John Henry Hopkins abandoned the iron business and entered
the ministry of the Episcopal church, in which he was much more successful,
and became greatly distinguished in his day for his learning and piety. He
is known in church history as "Bishop Hopkins," of Vermont. He was a man
of fine education and ability, and a voluminous writer in his old age. About
1S60 he published a -work sustaining slavery, and endeavored to prove that
African slavery was countenanced by the Bible. He was a member of the Pan-
Anglican Council at Lambeth Palace, and received the degree of Doctor of
Civil Law from Oxford University, England. In a biography of him, written
by his son, his experiences as manager of the Hermitage Furnace are given,
and there is also a graphic account of a journey he once made from Ligonier
to Youngstown in which their coach broke down in the night, and he and his
party were compelled to walk a long distance down the ridge to a wayside inn
at Youngstown.

The Mount Hope Furnace was built m Donegal township in 18 10, by
Trevor & McClurg, and was operated by ivlartin Slater, who was at least a part
owner. Its ruins are yet visible about two miles southeast of Donegal.

Mt. Pleasant Furnace, in Mt. Pleasant township, was also built in 1810, by
Alexander McClurg. This was operated by a man named Freeman until
about 1820. Little is known of it, but from old advertisements it is learned that
]\Ir. JNIcClurg owned it in 1813.

Jonathan Maybury & Son owned and perhaps built Fountain Furnace, on
Camp Run, in Donegal township, at the base of Laurel Hill, prior to 1812.
The firm was dissolved August 19. 1812, as is noticed from the usual adver-
tisement, and the furnace came into the possession of Alexander ]\IcClurr
who operated it in 1813.

452

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

CALIFORNIA FURNACE.

California Furnace was one of the last of the iron furnaces built in West-
moreland county. It was located about two miles south of Laughlintown and
was built by Colonel J. D. Mathiot and Dr. S. P. Cummings. It was situ-
ated on the banks of what is now known as California Furnace Run, at the base
of Laurel Hill Mountain, and used the same veins of ore that had been used
sixty years before in the operation of Westmoreland Furnace. They operated
this furnace a short time, and then said it to Alexander Cavan, who invested a
fortune in it and realized but little from the investment, for about that time the
manufacture of iron was necessarily abandoned from causes which will be
considered later on.

Kingston Forge was erected in 1811 en the Loyalhanna, near Kingstoir
House, by Alexander Johnston & Co., but there was no furnace in connection
with it, it being supplied with pig metal hauled on wagons from other parts of

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

453

the county, but mostly from Ligonier Valley. Alexander Johnston has been
considered elsewhere in these pages.

Ross Furnace, on Tub Mill Creek, in Fairfield township, was built by Isaac
Meason, in 1814. In 1842 a new stack was erected by Paul Meason, his son,
and Colonel J. D. Mathiot. The new furnace was in blast until 1854 or 1855.
Colonel iMathiot was connected the greater part of his life with the iron indus-
try, and was one of the most energetic and successful business men of West-
moreland county. This furnace made pig iron, stoves, kettles, pots, ovens,
skillets, etc.

Washington Furnace was located one and one-half miles southeast of
Laughlinstown, at the foot of the mountain, on the banks of what is now

GTOX FURN.\CE.

known as Washington Furnace Run. It was built in 1809 by Johnston, Mc-
Clurg & Co., and was operated until 1826, when it was sold to other operators.
Hannah Furnace was also located on Tub Mill Creek, in Fairfield township,
but a short distance below Ross Furnace, and was built in 18 10, by John Ben-
ninger. Nearby was built also a small forge on the same stream, not far from
where Bolivar now stands. Neither the furnace nor the forge w'ere long ii;
operation.

454

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY

Baldwin Furnace, not far from Ross Furnace, is said to have been built by
James Stewart; about 1818, but was operated but a short time.

Oak Grove Furnace, about three miles northeast of Ligonier, where the
little village of Oak Grove now stands, was built in 1854, by Colonel John
Clifford. It was owned in 1857 by James Tanner, of Pittsburgh, and was
never operated to any great extent. A few miles north of it was built Valley
Furnace, commonly called Hill's View. It was built by L. C. Hall & Co., in
1855.

Another furnace, called Baldwin Furnace, was built in Ligonier Valley,
in 1846, by Hezekiah Reed, and was finished in 1849, by Judge J. T. Hale, of
Center county, and subsequently owned by various parties. It was never oper-
ated to any great extent.

From a letter written by Philip Biers in 1814 to an iron producer in Phila-
delphia, relative to the manufacture of iron, we learn that the iron business
"was all the rage in Westmoreland county" in that day, and that in his judg-
ment it would be but a few years until there would be scarcely a stream fur-
nishing a favorable site for a furnace or forge which would not be thus occu-
pied. The factories from Pittsburgh were represented as offering a ready mar-
ket for all the pig metal that could be produced at $35 and $36 per ton. The
usual exchange with forge masters was three and one-half tons of pig metal
for one ton of bar iron, and the iron, he said, could be readily sold at $140
per ton. He represented Westmoreland county also as one of the best places
for the sale of castings in western Pennsylvania, and said they would readily
sell for from $75 to $80 per ton. He also represented an abundance of timber,
and plenty of iron ore, which could be delivered at the furnace at a cost of
two dollars per ton. An average furnace, in his judgment, would produce
from fourteen to eighteen tons of pig metal per week, and could be blown for
at least nine months in the year. In explanation of this, it may be said that
about three months of the year were lost repairing the hearth and inner walls
of the furnace.

Two or three other furnaces than the ones mentioned above were constructed
in Westmoreland county in the flush times which followed the panic of 1837,
that is, between 1840 and 1850. It would be impossible for us to describe all
these furnaces particularly, but we shall describe Washington Furnace and its
workings as a fairly representative furnace of the early days in Westmoreland
county.

In 1848 John Bell & Company rebuilt it, and it was in blast as late as 1855.
It had been in the meantime operated by Wertz & Rogers, and McClurg &
i\IcKnight, as is indicated by several ten-plate stoves cast in the casting house
connected with this furnace, and now in the possession of the Armour brothers,
of Laughlinstown. Late in its history it was sold for $10,000 to L. C. Hall,
who meant to introduce coke instead of charcoal for smelting ore, but was over-
taken by financial difficulties.

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 455

In selecting a furnace site, a level place close to a stream of water and
near a high bluff was preferred, so that a bridge could be made from the bluff
to the top of the furnace stack, upon which they could readily haul the ore,
limestone and charcoal, ready for dumping it into the furnace. The base of
the stack must not be too high above the stream, for water power was essen-
tial in making the blast. This in the early furnaces was made by a double
bellows, worked by a beam pinioned in its center, each end of which worked
up and down, and thus alternately forced a continuous blast of air into the
furnace. In the more modern furnaces the bellows were supplanted by fans
propelled by a water-wheel. When the bluff was not accessible the difficulty
was overcome by the building of extensive trestle work, as was the case in the
California Furnace. From the base of the furnace there must be necessarily
some level ground upon which to construct the casting house, and upon which
to lay out the sand beds. These extended to the outlet of the furnace. The
molten metal, which by its weight readily dropped to the bottom, was drawn
out and through a small ditch of molder's sand, which had small outlets or
pockets at each side. When these outlets and the main ditch were filled with
metal it was allowed to cool off, and the vent of the furnace was closed up
again. The parts in the outlets were easily knocked off with a sledge hammer,
and were largely of a uniform size, weighing about one hundred and fifty
pounds each. These were called "pigs," and from this we have the well known
name of "pig metal." In addition to the outlet for the heated metal there was
a larger one from which they took the ashes, cinder, etc., from the furnace.

Burning charcoal was a leading feature of the old furnace days. The
wood was cut into pieces about four feet long, and placed on the charcoal bed,
which was merely a level spot cleared off in the midst of the woods. These
billets of wood were piled on their ends in a compact mass ranging from
twenty-five to forty feet in diameter, and circular in form. At the edges the
pile was only about four feet high, but in the center it was much higher, being
conical in shape. Leaves and grass were then used to cover the mass of wood,
and upon this covering was thrown a tight coating of ground after the old
style of burning limestone, the leaves being used to keep the earth from falling
down among the billets of wood. The wood was then lighted, and the skill of
the charcoal burner enabled him to stop its combustion at the proper time
so as to produce charcoal and not ashes. Generally about three hundred and
fifty bushels of charcoal were used in smelting one ton of ore, and consequently
the consumption of timber was very great. All over the furnace country can
yet be seen the level places which were originally used as charcoal beds. Some-
times the bed was sunken a foot or two, in which case it was called a charcoal
pit. The furnaces of Westmoreland in an early day were all made of stone,
and varied in size from twenty feet square at the base, and about twenty feet
high, tapering towards the top, to forty feet square at the base and perhaps
thirty feet high. Washington Furnace, of which we are speaking more par-

456

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

ticularlv, was thirtv-six feet square at its base. This was called the stack, and
was hollow from top to bottom, the cavity being largest below. In Washing-
ton Furnace it was about eight feet in diameter. Into this cavity the ore, the
charcoal and a small amount of limestone to tlux the ore, was dumped from
the top of the stack. Wood for kindling was placed in the bottom at first.
Charcoal, when properly blown by the fans, produced an intense heat, so
great, indeed, that the stone and all other materials in the ore were readily
converted into a mohen mass. For this reason the inside of the furnace was
lined with firebrick, and needed frequent renewal. When a furnace was in
blast it made a roaring noise which could be heard a long distance, while
from its mouth was emitted a continuous stream of sparks. They were in
blast day and night, for otherwise the hot metal would have become chilled,
which necessitated great loss and extra labor. Nearby every well regulated
furnace were houses, stables, etc., for they were almost invariably located in
the mountains, near the most prolific ore beds. The ore was dug from ore
banks, and was in western Pennsylvania known as carbonate iron ore. It was
of 'various thicknesses, from six inches to two feet, and ranging in richness
from twenty to forty per cent. iron. Kidney ore was the richest and averaged
perhaps about thirty to thirty-three per cent. It required at least three tons of
ore to make one ton of pig metal. The metal from Washington Furnace in its
later years was transported in wagons, the greater part to Lockport, where it
was shipped on the Pennsylvania canal to Pittsburgh, and still later, when the
Pennsylvania railroad was built, it was hauled to Latrobe for shipment. In
its earlier days it had supplied Kingston Forge in part. The building of the
Pennsylvania railroad sounded the death knell to the iron industry in the east-
ern part of the county so far as its manufacturing from native ores was con-
cerned. A mistaken impression is abroad, however, that the industry has
never been revived because of the want of transportation. The real reason
arises from other causes. The difficulty is that our native ores will not make
steel by the Bessemer process because of its high percentage of phosphorus,
and, furthermore. Lake Superio'r ore of a higher per cent of iron can be
shipped to Pennsylvania cheaper than our native ores can be mined and
smelted. In this connection it must be remembered that railroad building is a
feature of the last fifty years, and that railroads are now the greatest purchas-
ers of iron in the United States. The durability of steel over iron for railroad
rails has long been known. Before the invention of Sir Henry Bessemer,
open hearth steel, crucible steel and blister steel were manufactured by pro-
cesses too slow and too expensive to be used as railroad rails. In 1857 one
steel rail was sent to Derby, England, and laid down on the Midland railroad
at a place where the travel was so great that iron rails, then in use, had to be
renewed sometimes as often as once in three months. In June, 1873, after
sixteen years of use, the rail, being well worn, was taken out. During this
time it was estimated that 1,250,000 trains, not to speak of detached engines,

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 457

etc.. had passed over it. It was the first steel rail, now called Besseiner rail,
ever used.

The invention of Sir Henry Bessemer, which revolutionized the iron and
railroad business, consists in blowing cold air into the converter — a pear-
shaped vessel, which has been partly filled with moUen cast iron. By this
process the oxygen of the air, forced through the hot iron, produces the most
intense heat known, and eliminates from the molten mass the carbon and
silicon it contains, and produces decarbonized and deciliconized iron, known
generally as malleable iron. Some carbon, however, is required to produce
steel, and a small quantity in the form of spiegeleisen is added to the material
in the converter. This furnishes the necessary amount of carbon to produce
steel, while it also expels the oxygen that has remained after the blast of cold
air has ceased. By this means, and by no other now known, steel rails can'
be made at a cost so low that they can be used as railroad rails. If it were
possible to make them from our native ores in Westmoreland by the Bessemer
process, and if our ores were as rich as the ores of the Menominee regions in
Michigan, of the Lake Superior ores, the matter of transportation could easily
be overcome, and the iron industry from native ores would be readily revived.
As it is, the iron used in our factories is entirely from Lake Superior and other
western ore, which is almost universally smelted before it reaches the West-
moreland manufacturer.

CHAPTER XXXI

Coal.

Coal is by far the most valuable product of Westmoreland county. From
our mines we ship coal daily in every direction. Its use has become so general
and so extensive in the United States that perhaps a few words concerning-
its discovery and the early history of the trade may not be out of place here.

From statistics published by Richard Cowling Taylor in 1848, we learn
that its first discovery in the United States was made by the renowned Father
Hennepin, a French Jesuit missionarv, in 1769, who discovered it near Fort
Creve Coeur, near Ottawa, Illinois. Little use was made of his discovery,
but the credit of being the first to know of its existence in America is never-
theless due him.

A letter written by William Byrd, of Virginia, dated May 10, 1701, speaks
of Colonel Randolph, Captain Epes, Captain Webb and others, going to see
a bed of coal which at times of great rains was uncovered, but which was
generally found very deep in the earth. This was in Virginia, about twenty
miles above Richmond. The same writer in 1732 describes air furnaces at
Massaponax, Virginia, and there first mentions the use of coal in America,
though that is supposed to have been "sea coal." Lewis Evans, in 1755, pub-
lished a map of what is now the Ohio Valley surrounding Pittsburgh, in which
coal is shown elsewhere, but none at or near Pittsburgh, nor anywhere in west-
ern Pennsylvania. So with Nicholas Scull's map of Western Pennsylvania,
published in 1759. Yet the use of coal was known in Pennsylvania in 1758,
for Colonel Bouquet, in writing to Colonel Burd about the encampment at Lig-
onier, advises him to examine the country for "sea-coal," and, if none can be
found, says that charcoal must be made. All coal was then designated as
"sea coal." In opening a road from Christopher Gist's plantation to the
Monongahela river at Dunlap's creek, Colonel Burd makes several important
entries in his diary. He says that "Encamping about four and one-half miles
from the river, on September 21, 1759, on Saturday the 22nd, they moved for-
ward, going westward. On Saturday camp moved two miles to Cole run.
This run is entirely paved in the bottom with stone coal, and on the hill on

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 459.

tlie south of it is a rock of the finest coal I ever saw. I burned about a bushel
of this sea coal on my fire." Coal was formerly mined in northern England
alone, and was carried to London by water, and was called sea coal for that
reason. In this way it was distinguished from charcoal.

A coal seam near Pittsburgh took fire in 1765, and is said to have burned
steadily for sixteen years. In William Scull's map of Pennsylvania, published
in 1770, coal is marked in Berks county, and also in Pittsburgh. Furthermore,
in George Washington's journal of a tour to the Ohio river, which he made in
1770, under date of October 14th of that year, he says: "At Captain Craw-
ford's all day. We went to see a coal mine not far from his house on the banks
of the river. The coal seemed to be of the best kind, burning freely, and
abundance of it." Captain Crawford was the unfortunate William Crawford'
who afterward became the first judge of Westmoreland county, and who was
burned at the stake by the Indians in Ohio. He lived at Stewart's Crossing,,
on the Youghiogheny river, opposite Connellsville. At that time coal was
used to some extent in Virginia, and Washington was supposed to be a good
judge of its quality. Later developments confirm his judgment when he decided
that the Connellsville coal was "of the very best kind."

The Virginia coal mines were the first that were worked in America. The
mines were on the James river, in Chesterfield county, first worked in 1750.
In a Virginia Gazette of July, 1766, Samuel Davis advertises coal for sale at
Richmond at twelve pence per bushel, and says it is "equal to New Castle
coal." In 1776 Thomas Wharten, Jr., and Owen Biddle, of Philadelphia, were
authorized to buy coal from Virginia.

In a paper read before the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, on January
4, 1785, by William F. Bush, the Penn manuscript is quoted to prove that the
Penns were aware of coal in abundance around Pittsburgh in 1769. Thomas
Penn, in a letter from London, dated January 31. 1769, written to Governor
John Penn, says, "We desire that you order five thousand acres of land to be
laid out about Pittsburgh, including the town which mav now be laid out,
and I think from its situation it will become considerable in time ; and that
the land may be laid out to Colonel Francis and his associates and other gen-
tlemen of whom I wrote you, as contiguous as may be and in regular angled
tracts if possible." Following this, on May 12th, he wrote respecting the same
survey, saying, "I would not engross all the coal hills, but rather leave the
greater part to others who may work them." In 1784 the Penns still retained
large tracts, notwithstanding the divesting act, and sold the privilege of mining
coal in the "Great Seam" to any one on the payment of thirty pounds for such
mining lot, a lot extending back to the center of the hill. Thus was the coal
trade begun in Pittsburgh.

In 1785 Samuel Boyd patented a tract of coal in Clearfield county, and in
1804 shipped the first arkload of coal down the Susquehanna river to Colum-
bia, in Lancaster county, a distance of two hundred and sixty miles, and the

46o HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

■"fuel was a matter of great surprise" to the people of that county. The first
coal sent to Philadelphia from the western part of the state was from Clearfield
county, by the Allegheny Coal Company. It was taken down the Susquehanna
river to Port Deposit, and thence over the Chesapeake Bay to Philadelphia.
This was in the summer of 1828.

In the early years of the last century the coal mined in Westmoreland
county was not worth considering. The principal fuel used was not coal,
but wood, of which the country had an abundance. About 1850 those who had
to purchase fuel began to purchase coal, but still wood was used by the major-
ity in heating their houses. There were hundreds of farmers who had acres
of coal who nevertheless purchased it or wood from their neighbors, not
I<nowing what lay concealed beneath the surface of their lands. Gradually
the coal began to be opened in places where its outcrop was patent to the
casual observer. These openings were always what is called "drifts." These
■drifts were called coal banks, and the output was only to supply a limited
local market, and was mined in the most primitive manner. They knew noth-
ing of the use of explosives in mining, and in nearly every coal bank the coal
was brought to the pit's mouth on a wheelbarrow, by man powev.

There were a few arkloads of coal shipped from the county on the canal,
but the amount was so small that it is not worth considering. When the rail-
road building era of the fifties came the coal industry began, though it was
confined to coal fields in close proximity to the main lines. The modern idea
■of building a road to the coal fields was not thought of in Westmoreland
county till about 1870. The southwest branch of the Pennsylvania, extending
from Greensburg to Uniontown, opened up the richest field of coal in western
Pennsylvania, but its projectors builded more on the richness of the agri-
cultural region through which they were passing for freight and passenger
traffic than they did on the coal, yet the coal and coke shipments have long
since surpassed all others on that road. The coal industry, as it now exists,
that is, the shipping coal from Westmoreland to foreign markets, was in
its first stages of development when the panic of 1873 came. Little was done
in the coal trade until the times began to brighten up in 1877. Then the
trade, as we now know it, began to grow, and by 1880 both the shipment of
coal and coke had become established industries in our county. With these
industries came a corresponding increase in the value of coal lands. Until
these developments were made land was valued because of its location or sur-
face ; since then, the value of the land, if underlaid with coal, has increased
so much that its surface value is generally lost sight of. Ten times its sur-
face : since then the value of the land, if underlaid with coal, has increased
tlie value of the coal depends very little, if any, on the value of the surface.

The coal mined in Westmoreland county so far has been almost entirely
the vein that is geologically known as the Pittsburgh seam. It underlies the
greater part of the county, and has an average thickness of about eight feet.

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 461

Its depth varies with locaHties and with the topography of the surface, but
it is generall)- found from fifty to two hundred feet below the surface. The
table here given is taken from the reports made by the mine inspectors, and
published by the State Bureau of Alines. It is not absolutely accurate, but
shows in the main the extent of the coal industry in our county for 1904. In
the last year many new mines have been opened and have been operated to their
fullest extent. Our coal fields in Westmoreland county seems to be almost in-
exhaustible.

462

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

NAMES OF OPERATORS AND
COAL COMPANIES

Total

Production

of Coal

in Tons

Total

Production

of Coke

in Tons

Number
of Days
Worked
Durine
the Year

Number

of
Employes

Keystone Coal and Coke Company, operating
the following mines:

190,333
373,710
34,001
201,784

30?; 539
207,684
286,678

227', 136
267,934
13,196
9,665
26;918
7,587

1,020

34,895

275
276
215
202
205
286
297
275
297
232
312
225
224
245
181

35

286

Hunker -. ...

20
343

Sewickley

304

Madison

313

334

Salem

284

286

11

13

48

Kevstone

127

2,589,221

304,590
438,966
179,143

52,232

94,176
1.31,164

Av. 259

302
301
295

2,895

Jamison Coal and Coke Company, operating
the following mines:

380

Jamison No. 3

Jamison No. 4

420
136

Totals

Loyalhanna Coal and Coke Company, opera-
ting the following mines:

922,699

289,857
107,495

225,340
53,079

Av. 299

271
290

942
527

Pandora

240

Totals

457,. 352

175,000
180.000

53,079

140,000
1. 50, TOO-

Av 284

264
194

773

Hostetter-ConnellsviUe Coke Company:

419

Whitney

401

Totals

.355,000

2.52,172

147,448

290,000

161,600
91,. 500

Av. 229

285

820

American Coke Company:

Puritan or Baggaley

372

Dorothy

281

Totals . . .

399,620

1.36,775

225,788
24,878

2.53,100
30,840
39,617

Av. 254

228

304
234

653

Atlantic Crushed Coke Company:
Atlantic Nos. 2 and 3

178

Superior Coal and Coke Company:

253

Superior No. 2

51

Totals

2.50,661

303.845
38,905

39,617

Av. 209

249
215

304

Pittsburg and Baltimore Coal Company:

Edna No. 1 . .

Edna No. 2

270
129

342,810

124,.573

283,887
582

i35;43i

Av. 232

259

294
149

Huron Coal Company:

Huron Nos. 1, 2 and 3

112

Derry Coal and Coke Company:
Derry . . .

324
15

Derry No. 2

Totals

284.469

1.35,431

Av. 222

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY

463

of Coal

Total
ProductiOD
of Coke

of Days
Worked

the Year

Ocean Coal Company:

Ocean Nos. 1 and 2

Ligonier Coal Company:

No. 2

Maher Coal Company:

No. 3

Alexandria Coal Company

Donohoe Coal and Coke Company

Latrobe Coal Company

H. C. Frick Coke Company:

Monastery

Saxman Coal and Coke Company

Bessemer Coke Company:

Duquesne

Millwood Coal and Coke Company:

Millwood

Bolival Coal and Coke Company:

Lockport

Latrobe-Connellsville Coal and Coke Comp'y

Gilson

Peters Paper Company:

Peters

J. D. Houston:

Houston

Seward Coal Company:

No. 1

American Steel Hoop Company:

Isabella Mine

Pittsburg Coal Company:

West Newton Shaft

Darr

Totals

H. C. Frick Coke Company:

Alverton No. 1

Alverton No. 2

Bessemer Nos. 1 and 2

Buckeye

Calumet

Central

Chambers

Enterprise

Marguerite No. 1

Marguerite No. 2

Mammoth Shaft

Mammoth Slope

Mullen

Mutual No. 3

Mutual No. 4

Rising Sun

Standard Shaft

Standard Slope

South West No. 1 A

South West No. 1 B

South West No. 2

South West No. 3

South West No 4

United

Totals

287,0(33

41,424

60,024
250,834
217,285
304,736

104,668
188,486

161,430-

90,380

19,708

76,526

25,722

2,813

3,8,50

14.747

121,612
28,210
90,263
162,995
157,320
230,304
22,697
21,331
27,884
195,189
202,315
134,877
36,828
101,808
66,281
30,088
484,813
121,203
297,884
148,942
179,560
153,200
87,926
242,957

82,300
91,342

89,826

10,030
29,698

80,000
18,.50O
58,800

104,200
99,600

148,200

14,666
17,750

124,2.50

127,800
85,200
20,300
65.900
27,600
19,600

329,440
82,360

187,800
93,900

116,400
84,500
57,000

157.200

217

268
268
173
209
235
267

464

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY

Total
Production
of Coal

Production
of Coke
in Tons

of Days
Worked

Pittsburgh Coal Company;

Ureka

Euclid

Port Royal No. 1

Port Royal No. 2

Waverlv

Yough Slope

Totals

W. J. Rainey:

Acme

Union

Totals

Hecla Coal Company, Ltd.;

HecIaNo. 1

Hecla No. 2

Hecla No.. 3

Totals

Penn Gas Coal Company;

Ayers Hollow

Penn Gas No. .3

Penn Gas No. 4

Totals

Bessemer Coke Company:

Empire <

Humphrey

Totals

Penn Coke Company:

Clare

Hester

Totals

Mt. Pleasant Coke Company:

Boyer

Amyvilie-Youghiogheny Gas Coal Company:

Amyville

Veteran Coke Company:

Veteran

Clair and Rockwell Coal Company:

Jacobs Creek

Brush Run Coal Co

Pittsburgh Coal Company;

Equitable '.

North Webster

Totals

A. R. Budd Coal Company

Monessen Coal and Coke Company:

Iron City

Lynne Coal Company

Penn Gas Coal Company:

Coal Run

Penn Gas No. 1

Penn Gas No. 2

Penn Gas No. 5

Totals

1.39,92.5
7.5,133
84,37.5
43,04(i

100,330
78.14!)

.520.904

103,537
28,530

172,187
330,302
05,427

74,788
101,210
49,859

29,000
32,300
01,700

101,095
44,470
51,928

208,129
157,044

84,811
152,0()0
191,281
121,297
550,055

0,014
28,348

07,433

18.849

122,250
237,685
41,632

09,101
50,945

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

465

Total

Production

of Coal

Productior
of Coke

of Days
Worked

the Year

Manor Gas Coal Company:

Denmark

Westmoreland Coal Company;

Export

Larimer

Osborne

Westmoreland Shaft

Totals

W. B. Skelly Coal Company:

Elizabeth

Leechburg Coal and Coke Company:

Hill

River View

Totals

Lucesco Coal Company

New York and Cleveland Gas and Coal Co.

Lyons Run

Ben Franklin Coal Company:

Metcalf

Apollo Coal Company:

Northwest

Central Coal and Coke Co. of Pittsburgh:

PhilmontNo. 1

Pine Run Coal Company:

Pine Run Nos. 1 and 2

Penn Manor Shaft:

Penn Manor

Valley Camp Coal Company:

Valley Camp

West Penn Mining Company:

W. P. Mine

Allegheny River Coal Company:

Edgecliff

Paulton Coal Mining Company:

Paulton

Valley Coal Company:

Valley

Osceola Coal Company:

Osceola

Braeburn Steel Company

Louis Coal Company:

Blackstone

Hamilton Coal Mining Company:

Crag Dell

Pittsburgh Coal Company:

Ocean No. 1

Shaner

Gufley

Big Chief

Totals

73.3,075
430,790
1.56,(i31
438,991
1,760,087

100,730

103,492

.53,744
270,!ll(>

20,345

58,.558
20(j,7(i5
24,941
37,475
1,915

41,438
73,700

135,8()7
92,801

113,111
(j(),776

289

88

262

218

276
308

298

226

CHAPTER XXXII

The Coke Industry.

The manufacture arid sale of coke has given Westmoreland and Fayette
counties a name throughout America. It is such an important product in our
county that it is quite proper that we should look somewhat into its origin and
into the growth of the industry.

It is probable that F. H. Oliphant was the first in this country who manu-
factured it, though in small quantities, and used it in smelting iron at his
furnace in Fayette county. This was in 1835. In 1841 William Turner, Sr.,
Provance McCormick and James Campbell contracted with John Taylor, a
stone mason, to put up two ovens for the purpose of manufacturing coke. These
were built on his own land on the banks of the Youghiogheny river, a few miles
below Connehsville. The ovens were very small, only made to hold between
sixty and seventy bushels of coal. Several experiments made with them during
the summer resulted unsatisfactorily. This was doubtless because they did not
understand the business. The want of draft and the small amount of coal which
was required to fill the ovens probably prevented favorable results. These
obstacles were gradually overcome, and finally, even from these ovens, a fair
quality of coke was produced. In the winter of 1842 they loaded a coal boat,
ninety feet in length, and when the high waters of spring came they then
floated it down the river to Cincinnati in search of a market. The foundries of
the city were unwilling to invest in it, though it was carried about in sacks and
offered at low prices. Finally, a manufacturer named Greenwood purchased it
at six and one-fourth cents per bushel, paying half in cash and the other half in
old mill irons.

In the same year a coal producer named Mordecai Cochran and his nephews
began to make coke, and succeeded in selling it, though they did not find a ready
market by any means. Richard Brookins next opened a mine near by, and
erected five new ovens in which he began to make coke. He had also made
coke on the ground after the old style of burning limestone, covering it over with
earth so as to exclude the air. In this way he found he could make coke, but
with a great waste of coal. In 1844 Colonel A. M. Hill who, like Cochran,
afterwards became a prominent coal and coke producer, bought a farm and

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 467

erected seven ovens, these of a much larger size than the former ones, holding
about one hundred sixty bushels each. The results were much better.

Coke is produced from soft coal by the simple process of roasting it for a
day or two, the air being mostly excluded from it while the burning is going on.

These ovens were wide below and their sides gradually rounded towards the
top. They somewhat resembled an old-fashioned bee-hive such as our ancestors
made of twisted straw, and from this fact were called bee-hive ovens, a name by
which they have since been designated, though they no longer have an oval shape
on the outside. When the coal has been sufficiently roasted to make coke, a
stream of water is applied to the burning mass within the oven, and the contents,
when cooled, is drawn out and is the coke of commerce. These old ovens have
long since been torn down ; the mortar of their joints has crumbled and mingled
again with the earth, but the fires lighted then in them with a spark from the
blacksmith's forge, burns now in thousands and thousands of ovens, has multi-
plied millions of capital and supports one of the chief industries of the state.

The Connellsville Coke Region is the name generally given to a strip of
country about forty miles long, and three miles wide, which extends northeast
and southwest across Westmoreland county and part of Fayette. The real coke
region is much larger than the above limits, though this is the original and
evidently the best coking coal bed yet discovered anywhere. The coal of this lo-
cality is of a peculiar quality, and is entirely suited to the manufacture of coke.
It is soft and porous, yielding easily to the miner's pick.

The coal in the Connellsville Coke Region, particularly the narrow belt out-
lined above, is remarkably free from sulphur, and is dumped into the coke ovens
as it is dug from the mines. Because of its remarkable freedom from sulphur
and other impurities, and of its high percentage of carbon, its hardness and con-
sequent ability to bear heavy burdens of iron in the furnaces, the coke from
this coal has been proved by many years of experience to be the best fuel of its
kind yet discovered for iron manufacture. It has driven charcoal completely
out of the market in smelting iron ore, and is almost without a competitor in
the iron industry in America. Coke from our county and from Fayette county
is regularly shipped to California, to those who smelt gold and silver ore dug
from the Pacific slope.

When taken from the oven it no longer has the form or appearance of coal.
It is nnich harder, has a ringing sound when struck, is of a grayish color, and
is full of small cells or cavities. The Connellsville coking coal lies from sixty
to one hundred feet under the ground along its longitudinal axis. As it ap-
proaches the Chestnut Ridge it bends rapidly and then abruptlv to the surface,
and crops out along the western slope of the ridge. It is the same vein of coal
which in other sections of Pennsylvania is used for fuel in houses and for
steam-making machinery. Why this comparatively small basin should be
purer and make better coke than other coals in the same locality, scarcely sepa-
rated from it, is a problem which scientific investigation has not yet solved. Nor
can this coal be used at all for smelting iron until it is coked. When put into a

468 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

furnace, and the necessan- limestone and iron ore is put on it, this coal is sa
soft that the weight above crushes it down so that it will not burn at all. Alore-
over, the sulphur in it is sufficient to mix with and damage the iron produced.
But, by making it into coke, the sulphur nearly all passes out and the product
becomes hard enough to bear the immense weight of the ore and limestone which
necessarily must rest on it in the process of smelting. The coke, being full of
cavities, gives the air a chance to pass through it, and thus an intensely hot fire
can be had by its use. The coke field from which a fairly good quality of coke
can be made, and is being made, is much wider than it was supposed to be ten
years ago, and future discoveries and experiments may still further extend its
limits. At present a large field is being operated in Ligonier Valley, and the
coke from it finds a ready market where Connellsville coke has been heretofore
used entirely. It is of a high grade.

In 1871, at a point about midway between Larimer Station and Ardara,
and about two miles from Irwin, Andrew Carnegie first experimented in making
coke from fine coal, or slack, from the bituminous mines near by. At first the
mound process, that is, piling the coal in a long mound through which ran a
tubular ventilator for the purpose of giving sufficient draft to the fire, was used.
The experiment proved that this slack coal could be used in producing coke,
and accordingly eighty regular coke ovens were constructed, to which were
added forty more the following year. With these one hundred and twenty
ovens, Mr. Carnegie produced a reasonably good grade of coke, and continued
to operate them until 1900. The demand for slack coal for steam making then
became so great that it was no longer profitable to use it in making coke, and
these ovens were abandoned. Their crumbling ruins yet remain, and are pointed
out as an evidence of Mr. Carnegie's early business sagacity, and of his connec-
tion with the coke industry of our county when the industry was in its infancy.

In some parts of the Connellsville coal basin there are three separate strata.
of coke-producing coal, and the lower veins are often as much as five hundred
feet or more below the surface. In some places the lower veins are over nine
feet in thickness, 'and none of them is anywhere less than six feet.

Water is a great barrier in the mining of this coal. Without the constant
use of pumps the mines would soon fill up, for natural drainage at such great
depths is out of the question. Constant pumping, day and night, adds greatly
to the cost of coke production. And. although water for the purpose of cooling
the molten coke at the present time is necessary, and is poured into the ovens
in great volumes, the water pumped from the mines cannot be used for this pur-
pose because of the sulphur it contains, and because of its many other impurities.
Impurities in the water leave a trace in the coke if poured into the molten oven,
and consequently only the purest water must be used. This is furnished by a
system of waterworks, the construction of which alone is often attended with
great expense. It requires about twenty-four hours roasting of the coal in the-
ovens to produce a coke that is suitable for the purpose of smelting iron ore, and'

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 469

about forty-eight hours to make the coke used in foimdries. A still higher
grade is made which requires sixty or seventy-two hours roasting.

The real wealth of the coal in the Connellsville coke seams is almost beyond
comprehension. The region seems small when compared with the acreage of
other coal fields.yet the coal in this region.known by special geological examina-
tions, assures us beyond doubt that at the present output the field cannot be ex-
hausted by the present generation. Producers claim that an acre of coal will
liroduce about five thousand tons of coke. There are in the Connellsville region
about one hundred and thirty square miles of coking coal, or about eighty-six
thousand acres, capable of producing over four hundred millions of tons. The
output for 1904 was 12,427,488 tons, and at this rate it would require over
thirty years to exhaust the region. Yet this calculation includes only one stratum
of coal, whereas there are, in much of this region, three separate veins, the lower
ones, moreover, being much thicker than the upper one upon which tliis calcula-
tion is based. It will be remembered, however, the Connellsville coke field is
no longer confined to the narrow region originally designated by that name.
Good coking coal is now found in West Virginia.

In most of the mines the mining is done by improved electric machinery,
which is also the motive power used in pumping water and air, and in drawing
the coal and hoisting it to the surface. There are certain ramifications in al-
most every mine, however, which cannot well be reached by electric appliances,
and in these the hauling is done by mules and donkeys, after the manner of the
old-time mining.

The development of the coke industry was very meager at first, and has ac-
quired nearlv all of its commercial importance since 1870. Comparatively few
ovens had been built before that time, but in that and the year following they
multiplied rapidly. The financial difficulties of 1873 had a very depressing
effect on the iron industry, and but little was done in the coke business for sev-
eral years. When the more prosperous years of 1878 and 1879 came, new
evens sprung up all over the region, and coke for a short time sold at as much
as five dollars per ton, and some sales were made at a still higher figure. It
may be safely said, however, that the coke industry was permanently established
by 1880, at which time our state produced 84 2-10 per centum of all the coke
produced in the United States. Over fifty per centum of this coke was produced
in the counties of Westmoreland and Fayette. The United States census of
1900 gives the total valuation of all coke produced in the United States as
$35,885,000, of which the Connellsville district is credited with $17,128,112. It
also shows that in that year Pennsylvania had eighty-nine coke establishments,
employing 9,283 men, and that the value of the product was $22,282,558. The
census of 1890 showed that our state had 5,855 wage earners employed in the
coke industry, and that the value of the product was $10,415,628, which shows
an increase of 113 9-10 per centum in ten years. In 1899 the average number
of carloads of coke shipped from the Connellsville district was 1,676 per day,
and it must have been greater each year since, as the subjoined table will show.

470

HISTORY OP WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

The price of coke per ton has fluctuated greatly in the last twenty vears. In
1901 it was sold as high as $6.00 per ton, and as low as $1.50 per ten. The
average price and gross revenue of the Coke Region, from 1880 to 1905 in-
clusive, is shown in the following tabulated statement taken from the Connells-
ville Courier, the highest recognized authority on the Coke Industry in the
United States. It shows the total number of ovens at the close of each year
and the annual output.

AR

TOTAL

TONS

AVERAGE

GROSS

OVENS

SHIPPED

PRICE

REVENUE

1S80

7,211

2,205,946

$1 79

$ 3,948,643

1881

8,208

2,639,002

1 63

4,301,573

1882

9,283

3,043,894

1 47

4,473,889

1883

10,176

3,552,402

1 14

4,049,738

1884

10,o43

3,192,105

1 13

3,607,078

1885

10,471

3,096,012

1 22

3,777,134

1S86

10,952

4,180,521

1 36

5,701,086

1887

11,923

4,146,989

1 79

7,437,669

1888

13,975

4,955,553

1 19

5.884,081

1889

14,458

5,930,428

1 34

7,974,663

1890

16,020

6,464,1.56

1 94

12,.537,370

1891

17,204

4,760,665

1 87

8,903,454

1893

17,256

6,329,452

1 83

11,598,407

1893

17,.5_13

4,805,623

1 49

7,141,031

1894

17,834

5,454,451

1 00

5,4.54,451

189.5

17,947

8,344,438

1 23

10,140,6.58

1896

18,351

5,411,602

1 90

10,282,043

1897

18.628

6,915,0.52

1 65

11,409,8.85

1898

18,643

8,460,112

1 55

13,113,179

1899

19,689

10,129,764

2 00

20,259,528

1900

20,9.54

10,166,2.34

2 70

27,448,832

1901

21,. 575

12 609,949

1 95

24,. 589, 400

1902

26,329

14,138,740

2 37

33,508,714

190.3

28,092

13,345,230

3 00

40,035,906

1904

29,119

12,427,468

1 75

21,748,069

190.5

30,. 842

17,896,526

2 26

40.446,149

CHAPTER XXXIIl

Manufacturing Industries.

The manufacturing interests of Westmoreland county are so extensive and
so diversified in their character that it is impracticable to classify or enumerate
them. Briefly it may be said, however, that the manufacture of iron and steel into
various commercial products, leads all others, but it should be understood that
this statement does not include the coal and coke products, either of which sup-
passes any other one industry in the county. In addition to iron and steel, our
more extensive products are tin-plate, .glass, brick, aluminum, brass, lumber
and its finished forms, paper, machinery, liquor, etc. Many of the larger es-
tablishments are described as industries of the various bcToughs of the county.
It is impossible to give a detailed statement of the output of these industries for
the last five years, but we must content ourselves with the statistics of the county
as collected by the Census Bureau of the United States Government fcT the year
ending- June ist, 1900.

From Census Bulletin No. 163, issued by the Department on April 29, 1902,
page 20, we learn that we had in Westmoreland county, at that time, 624 manu-
facturing establishments, owned by 662 proprietors, including corporations and
individuals, who on an average employed 14,535 wage earners. The total capi-
tal invested by these manufacturers was $31,587,664. Of this invested capital,
$1,857,142 is in land; $4,149,606 in buildings; $11,352,275 in machinery, tools
and implements ; and $14,228,641 in cash and sundries.

The wages paid that year to these 14,535 employes was $8,050,020. Of this
simi the men who were sixteen years old and over numbered 13,353, and re-
ceived $'7,798,425. The women sixteen years old and over numbered 666, and
received $152,547. The number of children employed under sixteen years of
age was 516, and they received $99,048. By this it will be seen that the average
amount paid the men fcr that year was a few dollars less than $600, and that the
average paid the women was slightly less than $230, while children under sixteen
years of age were paid a few dollars less than $200. The value of the output of
these 624 establishments for that year was $37,285,177.

Comparing the manufacturing industries of Westmoreland county with those

472 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

of the ether rural counties of the state, that is, excluding Allegheny and Phil-
adelphia counties, we stand third in the state, the counties of Berks and Dauphin
alone surpassing Westmoreland. If the amount of capital invested is compared
with that of other rural counties, we still stand third, the counties of Berks and
Northampton surpassing us. This immense output from the factories of West-
moreland is shipped to every civilized nation on the globe.

Briefly it may be said that Westmoreland county manufactures more window
glass, the chief product of glass, than any other county in the United States.
This is all manufactured in three places, viz. : Jeannette, Arnold, and Mt. Pleas-
ant, and these factories are described in the parts of this work which pertain to
these boroughs. The factories at Jeannette and Arnold are the largest in the
world. Our county has in the past twenty years wrested this supremacy from
the world, and has taken from Pittsburgh all the glass factories it had. This is
largely due to peculiar natural advantages, viz. : to an almost inexhaustible vein
of coal near Jeannette which is better adapted to the manufacture of glass than
any other known coal, and to the natural gas which is found in abundance in
this locality. The glass blowing in these large factories is now done entirely by
the most improved modern machinery.

CHAPTER XXXIV

The Spanish-American War.

But two regiments from Pennsylvania, viz. ; the Tenth and the Sixteenth,
saw service in the Spanish-American War, for they were the only ones from our
state which succeeded in getting out of the United States. In these regiments
Westmoreland county had three companies, viz. : Companies I and E, of the
Tenth, and Company M of the Sixteenth Regiment.

The Tenth Regiment of Infantry belonged to the National Guard of Pennsyl-
vania, and was composed of companies from Beaver, Washington, Greene,
Fayette and Westmoreland counties, and was commanded by Colonel Alexander
L. Hawkins. The regiment was called out and reported at Mt. Gretna on April
28, 1898. The two companies, I and E, from Westmoreland county. Com-
pany I from Greensburg and Company E from Mt. Pleasant, were in this regi-
ment. Company I was commanded by Captain James M. Laird ; and Company
E by Captain 'James A. Loar. The regiment was paraded for inspection and
muster, and both the officers and men had the privilege of entering the United
States service or refusing to do so, for, by our law, the National Guard of Penn-
sylvania could not be taken outside of the state to do military service. Be it
said to their honor that almost every one of them entered the United States
service. The few who did not had reasons for not doing so which were excep-
tionally good. Immediately thereafter and prior to the mustering of the regi-
ment, the companies were increased to seventy-five enlisted men each, and they
were mustered into the service of the United States on May 12th, 1898. They re-
mained in camp at Mt. Gretna, and on May 17 were ordered through the War
Department to move to Chickamauga Park, Georgia. While preparations for
this movement were being made, the order was countermanded and another was
issued the day following, which directed the Tenth Regiment to proceed to the
Philippine Islands as part of the command of General Wesley Merritt. This
order was hailed with great joy by the officers and soldiers of the regiment, and
in compliance with the order they left Mt. Gretna about nine o'clock p. m. on
May 18, passing through Greensburg about half past eight the next morning, on
their road to California and thence to the Philippines. A stop of a half hour
only was allowed at Greensburg. The citizens from the town and many hun-

474 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

dreds from the surrounding country had assembled to bid them good-bye, make
them presents, and give to them a last word of good cheer before they left on
their long journey to the Orient. The trip of the regiment across the continent
was by way of the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railroad to Chicago,
thence to Omaha, thence to Ogden, and thence by the Southern Pacific Railroad
to San Francisco. It was almost a continuous ovation from Harrisburg to the
Pacific coast. Their reception at San Francisco, magnificent in every particular,
was the crowning event of all. They reached that city on the morning of May
25, and almost immediately went into camp at Camp Merritt, near the Presidio.
On the morning of June 14 they embarked on the United States transport
"Zealandia," and in a few hours were under way across the Pacific ocean, as a
part of the expedition to the Philippine Islands under the command of Brigadier
General Francis V. Greene, U. S. V. The regiment arrived in Manila Bay on
July 17, 1898, and on July 21 disembarked and went into camp at Camp Dewey,
six miles south of the city of Manila. They immediately began to build earth-
works, and by July 31, v/ith the aid of the Tenth Regiment, entrenchments
sufficiently strong to afTord excellent protection to the troops were constructed.
On the morning of the 31st, the Tenth Regiment had been detailed for outpost
duty, the term being twenty-four hours. Nothing unusual occurred that day.

Company I, among other companies of the regiment, occupied the most
noTthern entrenchments of the United States army, and were on July 31st about
four miles south of the city of Manila. The entrenchment line extended from
the Manila Bay east two hundred and fifty yards, terminating at the road lead-
ing to Cavite and Manila ; the entire day being without firing from either side,
the United States troops were busily engaged in strengthening their position.
About 1 1 o'clock p. M. the enemy opened fire from four pieces of artillery at
Fort Malate. This was kept up for a half an hour or more without any ma-
terial damage to the United States works. They then advanced in a heavy line
of infantry, firing occasionally, until they were within about four hundred yards
of the United States troops. There they halted and began firing rapid volleys
from their entire line, which they kept up for three hours. This having but
little effect, they again opened fire from two pieces of artillery, after withdraw-
ing part of their advanced line. The two pieces of artillery were loaded with
shell and shrapnel. During all of this time there were but four of the United
States troops wounded and one killed. In the meantime the enemy made sev-
eral movements to turn the flank of the United States troops at the eastern
extremity, but were held in check by our troops, and at no time came nearer
than two hundred yards from the end of our line of entrenchments. The battle
terminated with the retirement o.f the enemy at about 3 o'clock a. m. It was
estimated by Colonel Hawkins that no less than one hundred thousand rounds
of ammunition were expended by the enemy, and perhaps sixty thousand by the
United States troops, the Tenth Pennsylvania Regiment alone having used
thirty-nine thousand rounds. These behind the entrenchments were compara-
tively safe, there being but few casualties, but among the exposed troops, when

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 475,

they went forth to check the flanking movements of the enemy, one soldier in
four was either killed or wounded, as is shown by the report of the battle made-
by Colonel Hawkins. A furious typhoon, with a constant downpour of rain,
lasted during the entire night, and the soldiers long before morning were liter-
ally covered with mud and drenched with rain. Most of the troops, and, in-
deed, all of the Westmoreland soldiers, wore under fire for the first time in
this battle, yet it was the testimony of the experienced officers, including Gen-
eral Greene and Colonel Hawkins, that they stood like veterans, never for a
single moment yielding an inch from their position. The companies most dan-
gerously exposed and in an unprotected position were Companies D, E and K.
All of the soldiers held their ground bravely, and when relieved brought their
dead and wounded to places of safety. This battle, known in history as the
battle of ]\Ialate, was the only engagement between the land forces of the two-
countries that took place during the Spanish-American war in the Philippine
Islands.

From August ist until the morning of the 13th, the Tenth Regiment per-
formed fully its share of outpost duty. On the 13th they received two days''
cooked rations and two hundred rounds of ammunition per man, and were or-
dered to take the position at the crossing of the Manila and Pasia roads, with-
the understanding that the army was to advance on the city of Manila. At
9:30 A. M. the bombardment of the fortifications of Manila was begun by the
United States fleet, and at 10 130 the reserves started for the front, but, when the
Tenth Regiment had advanced but a short distance beyond their entrenchments,
a white flag was seen floating over Manila, and, following the beach, they en-
tered the city via Malata and Ermita, with but little resistance.

When the command reached San Francisco it was decided that each com-
pany shciild be increased in numbers so as to make up the quota of one hun-
dred and six men to a company, as required by the new army regulations. Col-
onel James E. Barnett and Adjutant Charles C. Crowell and one enlisted man
from each company were sent back to Pennsylvania to enlist these additional
troops. The required number for the Tenth Regiment was two hundred and
forty-eight, and they were very readily found. But by the time they reached
San Francisco the main body of the Tenth had sailed for ]\Ianila. The re-
cruits were taken from San Francisco to Honolulu on the "Arizona," sailing
on August 20, and reaching Honolulu August 27th. There they were in Camp
Otis, and were drilled till November 10, when they again sailed on the "Ari-
zona," and reached Manila Bay on November 25th. On December 2 they
joined the regiment, and all were united under one name. ■

The regiment did guard and patrol duty in the city of Manila from the
14th of August until the 4th of February. On February 5, the Tenth Regiment
was ordered to advance and capture a Chinese hospital, and after a stubborn
contest the enemy was driven away and the hospital captured. In the after-
noon the advance was continued and the enemy driven from De la Loma Church
and blockhouse. There entrenchments were built and this position was occu-

476 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

pied until March 25th. They then began to advance north, the Tenth Regi-
ment being on the extreme left of the Second Brigade. On March 31, after one
or two engagements, they reached Malolos, where they remained until April
14, when they were ordered to Manila and thence to Cavite. On June 29 and
30 they embarked on the transport "Senator" to be mustered out of service at
San Francisco, and sailed on July ist. They came home through Japan, stop-
ping at Nagasaki and Yokohama. Colonel A. L. Hawkins, who had greatly en-
deared himself to all the soldiers and to the people of Pennsylvania generally
by almost a lifetime of military service, died on board the "Senator" at sea, on
July i8th. His remains were brought home and interred at his home in Wash-
ington, Pennsylvania. A monument has since been erected to his memory in
Schenley Park, Pittsburg. The transport "Senator" reached San Francisco
Bay on August i, and the regiment was mustered out of service at San Fran-
cisco, on August 22, 1899, after a service of sixteen months. The soldiers, on
"their return to Pennsylvania, were greeted with splendid receptions, net only
in Pittsburgh, but in all the towns from which the members of the several
companies hailed, the President of the United States, the Governor of Penn-
sylvania, General Merritt, General Greene and many other notables being
present to welcome them when they reached Pittsburgh.

The soldiers of this regiment who hailed from our county and who were
killed in battle were as follows : William E. Bunton, Company E, killed July
31, 1898; Jacob Hull, Jr., Company E, killed July 31, 1898; Jesse Noss, Com-
pany E, killed July 31, 1898: Alexander Newill, Company E, killed March 25,
1899; William H. Stillwagon, Company E, killed July 31, 1898; Lee Snyder,
Company E, wounded July 31, 1898, died August 3, 1898; John Brady, Com-
pany I, killed July 31, 1898; Bert Armbrust, Company I, killed March 30,
1899 : Daniel W. Stephens, Company I, killed March 29, 1899.

Those who were wounded were as follows : Company I — Richard D. Laird,
Augustus C. Remaley, Archibald W. Powell, Morrison Barclay, Joseph C.
Mickey, William H.Stoufifer. Company E — Captain James A. Loar, John G.
Thompson, Nathaniel J. Hurst, Richard G. Baer, Sylvester B. Bobbs, Charles
H. Eminhizer, John A. Hennesey, Roy J. D. Knox, Howard Miner, John A.
]\IcVay, Frank J. Schachte, Christopher Siebert, George Washabaugh, Will-
iam H. West, Sylvester B. Bobbs died at sea, July 22, 1899.

Company M of the Sixteenth Regiment was recruited at Jeannette, in West-
moreland county, and was the third and last company from our county which
was engaged in the Spanish-American war. It was commanded by Captain
James M. Laird, of Greensburg. He had become captain of Company I of
'Greensburg in 1878, and was connected with it and with the Tenth Regiment
as captain or major during all the years between 1878 and 1898, but, when
Company I was to be mustered into the United States service. Major Laird was
rejected because he had passed the age limit, much to the regret of the sol-
diers, his friends at home and to himself. Lieutenant W. S. Finney was elected
in his stead. In July following Governor Hastings, regardless of the age limit,

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 477-

commissioned him as captain of Company ]\I, which in the summer of 1898 had_
been recruited at Jeannette. Company M was attached to the Sixteenth Regi-
ment, and was part of the Third Battahon. Because of the lateness of thei:^
enlistment they did not sail with the Sixteenth Regiment from Charleston,
South Carolina, but were encamped first at Chickamauga and then at Newport
News. They finally sailed from the port of New York on the "Obdam," on
September 14, and landed at Ponce on September 22. They were equipped"
with Krag-Jorgenson rifles. After much moving they were encamped at San
Juan, and on October 11 sailed for the United States, landing at New Yorlt
on October 17. The regiment was furloughed for sixty days awaiting orders,
and it was then supposed that they would soon be ordered to Manila, for the
troubles, though practically over in the Porto Rican section, were still bubbling
up in the Philippine Islands. On December 28, however, the regiment was mus^
tered out of service.

CHAPTER XXXV

COUNTY OFFICERS.

The following comprises the list of county officers of Westmoreland county
from the formation of the county to the year 1905 :

PRESIDENT JUDGES.

John Moore 1785-91

Alexander Addison 1791-1803

Samuel Roberts 1803-1806

John Young 1806-1837

Thomas White 1837-1847

Jeremiah M. Burrell 1847-1848

John C. Knox 1848

Jeremiah M. Burrell 1851-1855

Joseph Buffington 1855-1871

James A. Hunter 1879-1890

Lucian W. Doty 1890

Alexander D. McConnell 1895

John B. Steel 1901

ASSOCIATE JUDGES.

William Jack 1801

John Irwin 1801

James Barr 1801

William Jack 1806

John Irwin 1806

Jacob Painter 1806

John Lobingier 1821

Thomas Pollock 1821

James Bell 1841

John Moorhead 1841

I

James Bell

David Cook

Sam'I L. Carpenter
G. R. D. Young . . .

Robert Given

John Jones

Robert Given

M. P. McClanahan
John W. Riddle ...

M. P. McClanahan 1871

PROTHONOTARIES.

Arthur St. Clair 1773

Michael Huffnagle 1776

Archibald Lochry 1779

Thomas Hamilton 1793

John Morrison i8og

James Reed 1818

John H. Wise 1819

Eli Coulter 1820

David Marchand 1821

William J. Williams

Bales McColly

George Bennett

John Zimmerman ...
Lewis A. Johnston . .
John Zimmerman . . .

R. W. Singer

John H. Highberger .
H. P. Hasson

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

479

Randall McLaughlin
James B. Oliver ....

John Clark

David Fullwood . . .
James McCallister .
Samuel B. Ransey .
Andrew Graham, Sr.

Joseph Gross

William McCall ....

842

John C. Keffer

John Chamberlain (died)

George VV. Flowers

John Rial

Robert A. Hope

Lewis Thompson

Robert A. Rankin

M. F. Null

M. F. Null

88s

New office created by virtue of the law and the Census of 1900, showing a population
:iver 150.COO in the county.

James H. Gallagher 1902 James H. Gallagher 1905

SHERIFFS.

This office was an appointive one till 1839.

John Proctor 1/73

James Carnahan 177S

Matthew Jack 1781

Robert Orr 1785

William Perry 1789

James Guthrie 179°

John Brandon 1792

James Brady 1795

John Kuhns 1898

John Brandon 1801

John Sloan 1804

Alexander Johnston 1807

Robert Stewart 1810

John Fleming 1813

Hunphrey Fullerton _..... 1816

John Klingensmith 1819

John Nicholls 1822

Morrison Underwood 1825

John Klingensmith 1828

Samuel L. Carpenter 1831

David Fullwood 1834

William McKinney 1837

James Harvey 1840

David Newingham

Michael L. Hays

David Kistler ,. . . .

Jolin Hugus

John Welsh

William Welsh

Valentine Elliott

William Huston

William Bell .'..

Robert M. Reed

Daniel F. Steck

Alexander Kilgore

John Guffey

James Borlin

Henry Kettering

John M. Stewart

Benjamin F. Byers

Lucian Clawson

Peter F. McCann

Harry F. Seanor

B^jamin F. "May

John H. Tresher 1901

George J. Seanor 1904

89s

REGISTER OF DEEDS AND RECORDER OF WILLS.

James Guthrie 179°

Robert Dickey 1809

James Montgomery 1812

William L. Evans
William C. Guffey
Samuel Rock ....

48o

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

Robert Moiitgouiery 1818

Alexander Johnston 1830

Jonathan Row 1836

Jacob S. Steck 1839

Archibald B. McGrew 1842

David Cook 1843

James Keenan, Jr 1849

Randall McLaughlin 1853

Jacob M. Miller 1854

Edward J. Keenan 1857

Clark F. Warden ....

John M. Laird

William B. Snodgrass

James Dennison

William Hugus

E. F. Houseman . . . .

Christ Cribbs

Wm. B. Conway

John R. Oursler

Samuel G. Stevenson .
Samuel G. Stevenson .

CLERK OF THE ORPHANS' COURT.

Up to 1836 this office was filed by the Prothonotary. From 1842 to 1855, they
in united.

George L. Ramsay 1836

W'illiani Gorgas ,
Joseph Gross ...
Robt. W. Singer .
Joseph W. Blair .

Joseph Gross

George W. Frick
James W Wilson
John R. Bell

Darwin Music

George W. Kistner . . .

James D. Best

Edward B. Sweeny . . .

Matthew A. Lytle

Chester D. Sensennick

Robert M. Jones

Robert M. Jones

COUNTY COMMISSIONERS.
The record prior to 1849 is very imperfect.

Christopher Truby 1/74

Benj amin Lodge 1779

Robert Clark 1779

Joseph McGarrak 1783

Alexander Barr 1783

William Jack 1783

William Moore 1785

James Lawson 1785

John Nesbit 1785

William Moore 1787

James Lawson 1787

William Jack 1787

James Lawson 1788

William Jack 1788

Eli Coulter 1788

William Jack 1789

John GiflFen 1789

Eli Coulter 1789

John Giffen • 1790

David Ryall 1822

Neal Boyle 1822

Jacob Turney 1823

James Shields 1849

Levi Kempf 1849

John Horrell 1849

John W. Marshall 1850

(One elected each year.)

Henry Swartz 1851

Simon Detar 1852

Jesse Walton 1853

Alexander Hanna 1854

George Albert 1855

F. B. McGrew 1856

G. W. Ross 1857

Sainuel McClean 1858

John Larimer 1859

John Severn i860

James Menoher 1861

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

481

COUNTY COMMISSIONERS CONTINUED.

Robert Clark 1790

Benjamin Lodge i7QO

Robert Clark 1792

Benjamin Lodge 1792

George Smith 1792

George Smith 1793

Alexander McDonald 1793

James White 1793

John Kirkpatrick 1794

James White 1794

George Smith 1794

John Kirkpatrick 1795

James White 1795

Barton Laffer 1795

Jacob Smith 1798

Robert Dickey .' 1798

James McGreary 1798

Henry Allshpnse 1800

Jeremiah Murry 1800

James Smith 1800

James Parr ._ 1802

John Bennett 1802

James Smith 1802

James Parr 1803

John Bennett 1803

Isaac Wager 1803

James Parr 1805

John Bonnett 1805

William Freidt 1805

Thomas Pollock 1806

John Bonnett 1806

William Freidt 1806

Thomas Pollock 1807

William Parks 1807

Jacob Linsman 1807

James Kelly 1808

William Parks 1808

Jacob Linsman 1808

James Kelly 1808

John Sheaffer 1808

Jacob Linsman 1808

Thomas Culbertson i8ro

Andrew Findley 181 1

James Caldwell 1814

Robert Williams 1814

John Milligan 1816

Jacob Rngh 1817

Tames Clark iSig

Samuel Biishfield 1820

W. J. Reed 1862

Abraham Hays 1863

James H. Clark 1864

M. G. Keener 1865

Michael Keffer 1866

John H. Hiberger 1867

John M. Bierer 1868

George Bridge 1869

Isaac Irwin 1870

Hugh Ryan 1870

William Deverter .' 1872

John Herbert 1873

Henry Keely 1874

John L. Bierer 1875

Clark Butterfield (died) 1876

R. P. Arnold, appd 1876

J. C. West 1876

M. M. Dick 1876

Henry Keely 1879

William Taylor 1879

John H. Townsend 1879

S. G. Brechbill 1882

H. H. Byers 1882

William Taylor 1882

George Campbell 1885

J. B. Felgar 1885

J. W. Hutchinson 1885

S. W. Shaw 1888

S. G. Thompson 1888

S. F. Maxwell 1888

H. S. Bear 1891

S. W. Shaw 1891

S. W. Maxwell 1891

Hugh Henderson 1894

W. D. Reamer 1894

J. V. Huff 1894

W. D. Reamer 1897

J. McCoy Dinsmore 1897

Harry Mansfield 1897

W. D. Reamer 1900

George M. Earnest 1900

R. N. Gay 1900

Hugh Price 1903

George M'. Earnest 1903

Daniel A. Mowery 1903

W. D. Reamer 1906

B. F. Shaffer 1906

D. W. Shape 1906

482 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

COUNTY TREASURERS.

J. J. Wirsing 1879 Wm. H. Saam 1894

John J. Knappenberger 1882 David H. Rankin 1897

James M. Reed 1885 Daniel F. Beltz 1900

Eli Chambers 1888 A. Shnmaker 1903

Philip Fisher 1891 H. F. Bovard 1906

COUNTY SURVEYORS.

W. F. Miller 1881 J. J Neel 1896

Samuel N. Ferguson 1884 J. J. Neei 1899

Samuel N, Ferguson 1887 Wm. H. Matthews 1902

Wm. R. Earnhardt i8go Wm. H. Mathews 1905

Wm. M. Lloyd 1893

DISTRICT ATTORNEYS.

Silas A. Kline i88r Joseph H. McCurdy 1892

A. M. Sloan 1884 Wm. C. Peoples 1895

Denna C. Ogden 1887 Wm. C. Peoples 1898

J. E. Lauffer, died and Curtis H. Jesse E. B. Cunningham 1901

Gregg appd 1890 Jesse E. B. Cunningham 1904

Our early settlers were too busy to pay much attention to politics. Our
vote in the early years of last century was very meager, for the great contend-
ing parties of a later date had not been formed and party lines were not yet
drawn. Most of our county officers were appointed by the Governor, and
there was but little excitement concerning elections. The Jackson-Clay-Adams
contest for president in 1824 brought about a bitter partisan feeling through-
out the country. For the first time in our county we had a real presidential con-
test when John Quincy Adams was a candidate for re-election in 1828, and
Andrew Jackson was pitted against him. The official vote of the county, as
published in the Westmoreland Republican and Farmers' Chronicle of Novem-
ber 7, 1828, was as follows :

Districts Jackson. Adams.

Greensburg 98 32

Hempfield 545 16

Unity 141 37

Mount Pleasant 69 6

South Huntingdon 267 21

Rostraver 170 55

Fairfield 180 27

Donegal 1 72 2^

Ligonier 189 38

Y'oungstown 203 55

Derry 368 39

Washington 207 II

Allegheny 187 19

Salem 223 41

HISTORY Of WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 483

Districts Jackson. Adams.

Franklin -.283 22

Mount Pleasant District 287 85

Jackson District 192 49

Sewickley Dictrict 136 41

Total 3917 629

Jackson majority over Adams in entire county, 3,288.

The presidential election in 1832, when Jackson was a second time a candi-
date for the presidency, and was opposed mainly by William Wirt, was equally
bitter, though not quite so one-sided, as the following record of the official re-
turns show :

Districts Jackson Wirt

Greensburg 86 30

Hempfield 416 65

Mount Pleasant 74 7

Unity 115 43

Unity District 193 79

Jacksonville District 173 69

Sewickley District 89 78

Mount Pleasant District 325 95

Franklin 263 22

Washington I99 28

Allegheny 251 26

Derry 276 40

Donegal 147 25

Fairfield 178 23

Ligonier 142 55

Salem I93 60

Rostraver 121 57

South Huntingdon 178 59

Total 3419 861

Jackson's majority over Wirt, 2,558.

Westmoreland county was then, like the state, strongly Democratic. For
more than fifty years it was a stronghold of Democracy, and was pointed to as
the "Star of the West." It was seldom in all these years that a Whig or a Re-
publican was elected to a county office. The notable exceptions of the later
elections were the election of Evans in i860 as register and recorder, and the
election of James A. Hunter, in 1879, as president judge, both being elected
bv the Republicans. The election of Judge Hunter 'was brought about by a
dissatisfaction in the Democratic party with their nominee, A. A. Stewart.
Though a man of many good qualities, he was defeated by 1065 votes, while all
the other candidates on the Democratic ticket were elected. The year follow-
ing, though a strenuous effort was put forth by the Republican party to carry
the county, it was carried by the Democrats, though by somewhat reduced ma-

484 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

jorities, and continued in the Democratic column until 1884. In that year an
unusually strong ticket was put into the field by the Republicans, headed by
George F. Huff as a candidate for the office of state senate. James G. Blaine
was then a candidate for the presidency. Having been brought up in an ad-
joining county, he was unusually popular with a majority of the Westmore-
land voters, who had watched his matchless leadership in Congress with an
almost paternal interest. Though a bitter, contest ensued, the entire Republican
ticket was elected by several hundred majority, and Mr. Blaine came within
eight votes of carrying the county. In 1885 the county again went Republi-
can, but in 1886 it went Democratic, with the exception that Welty McCullough
carried the county and was elected to Congress, and James S. Beacon was
elected to the legislature. In 1887 the county went Republican, and in 1888
the greater part of the ticket was elected. In 1889 it was carried by the Demo-
crats by a greatly increased majority, and again in 1890, except that j\lr. Huff
carried it as a candidate for Congress. In 1891 it was carried by the Republi-
cans, but by a very small majority, though P. F. AlcCann was elected sheriff
on the Democratic ticket. In 1892 the successful candidates were about
equally divided between the two parties. In 1893 the Republicans carried it by
a very large majority, since which time it has been constantly in the Republican
column, with the exception that Judge Lucian W. Doty was re-elected judge in
1899 by a small majority.

In 1905 the Republicans renominated Alexander D. McConnell for judge,
and his nomination was endorsed by the Democrat party, paying him thus a
compliment hitherto unheard of in Westmoreland politics.

Following is a statement of great interest to, every resident of Westmoreland
county, and is also valuable as a source of information and for reference. It
gives, in detail, the real estate valuation and amount of taxation of every borough
and township in Westmoreland county for the year 1905. The figures are
taken from the official records in Controller Hitchman's office and are authentic,
though it must be remembered that the assessed value is rarely ever more than
half its real value.

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

485

Arnold

Arona

Avenmorc'

Adamsburg

Bolivar

Cokeville

Derry

Donegal

East Greensburg

Greensburg— First Ward.. . . .

—Second Ward . .

—Third Ward...

— Fourth Ward..

—Fifth Ward. . . .

Hyde Park

Irwin

Jeannette

Ligonier

Ludwick

Livermore

Latrobe— First Ward

— Second Ward

—Third Ward

Mt. Pleasant — First Ward. . .
— Second Ward.
—Third Ward..

Manor

Madison

Monessen — First Ward

— Second Ward. . . .

—Third Ward

McMahan

New Kensington

New Alexandria

.New Florence

North Bellevernon

North Irwin

Penn

Parnassus

Suterville

Scottdale— First Ward

— Second Ward

—Third Ward

—Fourth Ward....

Salem

South Greensburg

South East Greensburg

South West Greensburg

Seward

Smithton

Trafford City

Vandergrift

Vandergrift Heights

Vandergrift, East

West Newton

Youngstown

ingwood. ,

Totals $31,86.5.89 $19,897. .T

746.87
110.73
400.41
58.05
244.12
85.59
.594.94
32.85
410.70

1,418.73

1,162.90
792.40

1,169.14
649.98
88.53

1,162.22

2,3.54.17
482.14
450.44
44.14
471.83

1,033.44
819.60
461.15
667.50
517.27
306.81
11.35
902.. 58

L, 2.57. 06
500.61
154.62

i, 2.50. 45
198.75
215.67
293.64
160.29
188.74

,092.34
190.95
921.09
423.69
761.65
204.16
162.63
635.71
219.80
626.26
75.04
1.53.. 59
528.26

,119.29
419.99
69.69
843.09
80.91
372.34

.56.47

44.47
110.03

15.70
407.08
,113.02
,810.63
805 . 42
,711.41
401.12

10.80
965.16
296. 9S
970.76
247.39
230.22
423.16
670.75
340.94
S75 . 26
710.47
.304.94
580.08

12.50
180.. 50
380.34
203.00
313.07
71.00
.50.96
.556.68
88.30
1,191.77
81.60
215.74
38.08
72.18
40.16
179.42
166.36
69.. 32
79.96
139.60
108., 52
60.69

2,614.23

387.39

1,400.29

185.59

8.54.28

299.51

2,082.75

114.81

1,4.37.44

4,965.84

4,070.19

2,773.68

4,092.19

2 275.20

309.92

4.065.13

8,241.67

1,687.82

1,. 576. OS

1.54.49

1,651.47

3,617.25

2,869.25

1,615.65

2,. 336. 27

1,810.74

1,073.87

389.69

3,1.58.87

4,400.03

1,751.. 33

540.60

7,878.03

695.69

7.54.92

1,027.63

560.92

660.67

3,823.36

668.26

3,224.22

1,483.05

2,665.98

569.12
2,224.47

769.14
2,192.00

262.46

537.. 58
1,848.48
3,917.22
1,469.61

243.71
2.9.50.23

283.22
1,. 302. 97

$111, .532. 06 .$31,8.58,814

486

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

TOWNSHIPS

Allegheny

Bell

Burrell, Upper

Burrell, Lower. . . .

Cook

Donegal

Derry

Franklin

Fairfield

Huntingdom, North
Huntingdon, South.
Huntingdon, East. .

Hempfield

Ligonier

Loyalhanna

Mt. Pleasant

Penn

Rostraver

Sewickley

Salem

St. Clair

Unity

Washington

Totals

Grand Totals;

Boroughs

Townships

Totals

1,352.

533.
2,469.
2,032.
3,028.
5,361,

913.

438
3,913
2,877
3,435
2,343
1,915

232
4,024

813

$ 307.04

169.16

53.05

460.07

172.08

100.00

708.72

931.78

305.06

644.66

1,134.31

1,011.79

2, .572. 99

334.04

234.02

1,319.83

851.88

2,211.31

791.48

614.49

34.48

1,369.33

305.47

2,877.59
1,995.32
832.. 59
2,245.84
966.16
1,140.58
13,787.08
4,734.42
1,869.58
8,643.52
7.112.26
10, .598. 93
18,760.96
3,199.88
1,534.64
13,692.78
10,069.67
12,025.17
8,209.61
6,701.94
813.36
14,085.06
2,845.77

821,817

. 569.898

237,823

641, .500

275,715

.325,509

3,9.38,1.58

1,352,225

533,943

2,468,909

2,031,-576

3,027,416

5,3.59,118

913.777

438,318

3,911,622

2,876,280

3,435,179

2, .344, 792

1,914,433

$31,865.89
42,497.45

$16,637.04

$19,897.37
16,637.04

$111, .532. 06
148,742.71

$.31,8.58,814
42,488,766

$74,347,580

CHAPTER

Greensbur

From some old newspaper articles we can gather a reasonably correct idea
of Greensburg as it existed shortly after it was incorporated. The lirst census,
in 1810, gives the population as 685. The census of 1790 is very imperfect, and
gives the population of Greensburg with Hempfield township, for it was then
not incorporated. The census of 1820 gives the population as 770, showing
an increase of eighty-five people in ten years.

The houses of the county seat were very common structures in that age.
]Mo.st of them were built of logs, and but few were frame or weather-boarded
structures. A few of the early houses were buflt of stone, but they did not gen-
erally date back as far as 1800. The old banking house of the Westmoreland
Bank, for instance, which was thought to be one of the oldest buildings in
Greensburg, was built of stone, but was not erected until 1805. On the other
hand, the stone part of the house on West Otterman street and Harrison avenue,
which was at first used as a tavern, was built in 1796. Nearly all of these old
landmarks have been rebuilt in such a way that scarcely anything of the original
structure now stands. Thus, the hotel at the corner of Pittsburgh and Main
streets, opposite the court house, known now as the "Fisher House," and known
lo.ng ago as the "Drum House," contains in its present superstructure nothing of
the original building. A part oi the foundation, it is said, is the same as the one
which supported the old building, and which, if standing, would be perhaps
the most historic landmark in Greensburg. It was the house in which the com-
missioners of the United States and the state officials were entertained during
the Whisky Insurrection. At that time it had a clapboard roof, and had for a
sign a large painted figure representing General Nathanael Greene. It is said

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

that at that time nearly every house in Greensburg was set back in the yard,
and were far apart, so that from almost any section one could look through be-
tween the hcaises and into the broad green fields beyond. East of Greensburg,
on the hill entering the town and by the side of the old road, was quite a cluster
of one-story log houses which was called "Irish Town," and on the west side
was another cluster called "Dutch Town." This read, which was the main turn-
pike going east and west, was the principal business street of the place. Along
it were always collected crowds of idle men and boys to see the big teams com-
ing up the hill, and to hear the wagoners swear and crack their whips. Where
the road crossed Main street were two taverns, a store, and the county buildings.
Among the first, buildings on Main street were taverns, which from time to
time were kept by numerous old citizens. Many of the high officials of that
date, or smaller county officers, if they came from office without much money,
forthwith engaged in the tavern business, which did not require much capital,
and seemed to suit them quite well. The number of inns in that day was large
in proportion to the number of villagers. The people from all the county, how-
ever, came here and sought entertainment, which gave rise to more public tav-
erns. The building above the court house, latterly owned by the Armstrong
heirs, was called the Dublin Hctel. In front of it was an archway, and the
wagoners drove their teams through it to the vard beyoiud. Between the lower
house on ]\Iain street and the German
burying ground there was a common
upon which the boys of an early day
played ball. At that day, too, nearly
every citizen of Greensburg kept a cow,
and this was a convenient place for them
to pasture and spend the night. On the
western side of Greensburg, now one of
the most populous sections, there were
but two or three log houses. Ludwick
(Ittoman was an old Dutchman who
owned the farm now owned by the Seaton
Hill Academies, afterwards known as the
Stokes farm and still later as the John
Jennings farm. It also included most of
the land upon which the town of Lud-
wick is built. His log house stood near
the place where the Stokes residence
was afterwards built. It was entered by
a double door, hung one above the other
Hero ot the Revolution. |j|^g ^ Stable door. He was extremely

homely in his dress and make-up, gen-
erall\- wearing a red flannel coat, a round-about made from a woolen blanket.
Later came a better house on the summit of "Bunker Hill," which was made

GENERAL NATHANAEL GREENE

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 489

■of frame, and was lathed and plastered on the outside. It was known as the
Eushfield Tavern. Near by was a blacksmith shop. Indeed, every tavern had
near it a blacksmith shop, for horse-shoeing was one of the leading industries
of a wagon town in those days, and the creaking of the bellows might be heard
from early morning until late at night. On Main street, where the Zimmerman
House now stands, stood the house of the renowned lawyer, John B. Alexan-
der. The Zimmerman House is yet the original structure, with a south end
added on Main street, a third story on the entire building, and an addition ex-
tending along Second street. One can yet see the original outline of the old
Alexander home both from Main street and from Second street. Nearby lived
Judge John Young, in a house opposite the present Methodist Church building
on Main street, now occupied by the Masonic Hall and the Troutman
stores. Dr. Postlethwaite, the eminent physician of Greensburg, resided in a
house opposite the Zimmerman House, now known as the ]\Iace property.
Judge Coulter, then one of the leading lawyers, lived in a house standing where
the First National Bank and the Huff building now stand.

From the local newspapers of that day a few items of interest may be
gleaned. In the Gazette of November 27, 1823, is the notice that John B.
Alexander and Joseph H. Kuhns entered into a law partnership as attorneys,
and that James B. Oliver had an office in Greensburg as a scrivener and con-
veyancer. At the same time John Connell kept a store "opposite the market
liouse and stage office," while AI. P. Cassilly, Randal McLaughlin and Henry
W'elty. Jr., kept the leading merchandising establishment of the town. This
firm dissolved partnership in April, 1824, and Cassilly continued at the old
place. W. Brown & Son, and a man named Mowry, kept store opposite the
postoffice, and between these stores was published the Gazette. John Con-
nell's advertisement showed that he kept fancy goods for sale. Another store
was kept by Arthur Carr, and still another by James Brady & Company.
Edward N. Clopper, the progenitor of the Clopper family, had just come from
Baltimore, and advertised his store in the room "below Horbach's Tavern and
next door south of Simon Drum, Esq." A man named Gallagher, John Isett
and William Finley, were the Greensburg hatters, for it must be remembered
that hats were at that time manufactured by small establishments scattered
throughout the country. Hugh Stewart manufactured spinning wheels and
reels at his shop, which was "The second house on the northern side of the
street west of the residence of Mr. Henry Welty, Sr." James Armstrong did
the tailoring of the town. George Singer was a chair maker, and also adver-
tised to do gilding, sign painting and glazing. James Gimmelwas a stone-
cutter, and his place was opposite the German Church. He also advertised
grindstones for sale. Peter Fleeger was a saddler. Jehu Taylor had what
lie called a furniture warehouse, in which he advertised for sale many house-
hold conveniences, and he was also a cabinetmaker. ■ In an issue of the paper

490

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

of 1825 there is a complaint of a scarcity of water in the weUs should a fire
occur, and it was complained that the fire engine was not kept in repair and
for all practical purposes was really useless. Samuel McCawley carded wool,
and his establishment was one door below the brick brewery on the turnpike
road. There was also a barber, for in the issue of February 13. 1824, there is
an article which is signed, "E. F. Pratt, hair dresser," and says he does busi-
ness at the "Jackson Tonsorial Hall," two doors south of the hat factory. He
then remarks, "Those who cannot find the place will inquire at Alexander
Smith's or Peter Shiras." There was also a movement made in that day, as
is learned from articles sent to the Ga::cttc in December, 1826, to start a circu-
lating library for the benefit of the Greensburg people. Another article in
the same issue laments the fact that Greensburg was without that "useful
mechanic," a nailor.

In 1830 the population of the town was 810, an increase of forty in ten
years. Still the buildings were largely frame or log, and bore little resem-
blance to the present structures. On the north the town extended to the lot
where the present house lately occupied as the residence of the late Mrs. Thomas
J. Barclay. Joseph Herwig, a chair maker, was in the last house on the op-
posite side of the street. On the south the town was bounded by the German
Reformed parsonage, which stood below the present Zimmerman House, and
on the opposite side of the street was a tavern kept by a widow named Bignell.
She called her house the "Sun, Moon and Seven Stars." The sloping ground
south of town was known for long years as the "Bullet Ground," because it
was used for shooting at a mark. Long after this that whole section received
the name of "Kinkerhook," by which name it is still occasionally designated.
The name Kinderhook was doubtless given to it about 1840, in the days of
Martin Van Buren, for this was the name of his birthplace in New York.
West Pittsburgh street was then called "Dutch Town," and extended down to a
few doors farther than the Cowan residence, where a man named Jennings,
living near Coal Tar Run, had a blacksmith shop. After passing the Run, the
hill west of it was and is still called Bunker Hill, and on the top of Bunker
Hill was a riotous tavern where men went to indulge in the sports of cock
fighting, dog fighting, etc. There were no houses on the hill at that time
except one, which was absiut opposite the house built by Judge Burrell, now
owned by the heirs of the late Hillary J. Brunot. This house was then owned
by a man named John Williams, whose son, William Williams, became an
efficient deputy and clerk in the court house. East Greensburg, or "Irish
Town," ended with the steam mill of Eli Coulter, who was a brother of Jus-
tice Richard Coulter. It was a short distance west of Jack's Run. West
Otterman street ended about the place where the United Brethren Church
stands. On the ground where this church stands formerly stood an old stone
tavern, which was perhaps the oldest stone house in Greensburg, for it was

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 491,

used as a tavern in 1797. From 1820 to 1830 it was kept by David Cook, who-
had been register and recorder and associate judge of Westmoreland county.
East Otterman street was ended by the brewery, which was owned by John and.
Richard North, who came here from England. This was at a point about half-
wav between Main street and the end of East Otterman street, at the foot of
the hill. At that time the canal, of which we have spoken before, and the
state pike from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia and national pike from Wheeling,
to Baltimore, had been completed, and the travel through Greensburg vk^as
very heavy. Wagons, carriages and horsemen passed daily through the town,
and the hotels were well patronized.

As early as 1798 Greensburg had public taverns at which liquors were
sold by authority under licenses gpanted by the court. The first license
granted was to Joseph Thompson, of the town of Greensburg. He was li-
censed "to sell all kinds of spirituous liquors by the small measure," this
meaning by the gill. The most important tavern in the early days was "The
Simon Drum House," which stood where the "Fisher House" is now located.
It was erected about 1791. The "Harbach House" stood on the southeast
corner of Main and Pittsburgh streets. Both Harbach and his son Abraham
were the proprietors of this hotel. The latter owned an interest in a line
of stages, and was also a mail contractor ; he succeeded therefore in having;
most of the stages put up at his hotel. The site now occupied by the "Null
House" and the one occupied by the "Cope House" were famous tavern stands
more than a century ago. It was the custom in those days to have large signs
erected, upon which were painted pictures of prominent men of the day,,
such as Greene, Washington, Jefferson, etc., and these in some way generally
indicated the politics of the hotel. The Westmoreland House was kept by
Frederick A. Rohrer, and was for many years the Democratic headquarters,
of our people. On West Otterman street, at the corner of it and Harrison
avenue, was a much frequented tavern kept by a man named Hornish. He '
catered to the broad-wheeled wagon trade, and to wagons in general. In
Dutch Town there was another kept by a man named Kuhns, who was of
German descent. This was the favorite stopping place of the German element,
and particularly of those who were Democrats. In Irish Town there was a
tavern called "The Federal Springs," kept by Frederick ^Mechling. The pol-
itics of this tavern was the opposite of the Kuhns House, as is indicated by
its name, "Federal," but in both houses the language spoken was mostly Penn-
sylvania Dutch. Simon Singer kept the "Greensburg and Pittsburgh Hotel."
The Dublin Hotel was an Irish house kept by a man named Thompson, and
stood on a site then called "Green Lane," now known as Pennsylvania avenue,
and was between the Rappe Hotel and the stairway to the Pennsylvania rail-
road station. About a mile east of Greensburg, on the turnpike, was the Eicher
House. This was also a wagon tavern, kept by Griffith Clark, who died in.

492 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

1829, and who was buried with full Masonic honors. The brethren of the
mystic tie attended his funeral in full dress, and at their head marched the
venerable judge John Young. This tavern was afterwards kept by Brintnal
Robbins, a Revolutionary soldier, Peter Roe, Joseph Nicewonger and others.

Public amusements were very rare in the early days of Greensburg. Militia
parades, Fourth of July demonstrations, circular fox hunts and barn raisings
close to town were the leading diversions for the men and boys. Whisky
was very cheap, and flowed copiously on all these occasions. Women at-
tended and took some part in some of these diversions, but they were almost
■exclusively for men. Exclusive gatherings for women were very rare, and
were almost entirely confined to quiltings. When the turnpike was com-
pleted from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh amusements became more varied and
numerous. Occasionally there came through on the new pike a traveling the-
atrical entertainment or a musical concert, which gave their performances in
the upper room of the courthouse. With the pike, too, came the first exhi-
bition of wild animals in menageries, generally called "shows." These were
new then and were patronized by all classes, some even coming as far as
twenty miles, many of them on foot, to see a tent show. The Westmoreland
Republican of June 12, 1819, advertises a new wonder, a living male elephant
named "Columbus," to be seen in Greensburg on W^ednesday, June i6th. The
paper announces that the elephant is "the largest and most sagacious animal
in the known world," and that the manner in which it takes its food and drink
makes it the greatest curiosity ever offered to the public. It also notifies
the public that "Columbus" has large tusks, and that though he looks for-
midable his docility surpasses that of any other animal ever exhibited in this
section. In Philadelphia, it says, "he was allowed to be the best educated
animal that ever crossed the Atlantic ocean. His height is eight feet, his ears
two feet two inches long, and his weight between four and five thousand
pounds." In a note the advertisement says the elephant will be exhibited at
Laughlinstown on Monday, the 14th, and at Youngstown on Tuesday, the
iSth of June. Admission, 25 cents ; children at half price, in specie or par
money.

The same year, 1819, came the first horse race. It was held on Thurs-
day, October 7, on the farm of David Williams, west of Greensburg. It lasted
three days, with a purse of fifty dollars for the first day and forty dollars for
the second day. The third day was the sweepstakes day, and was free for all
horse flesh in the state.

Wandering theatrical troups of those days had no advance agent, and the
announcement of their entertainment was made after their arrival. "Rich-
ard the Third" was first played here by Messrs. Lucas, Davis and Smith on
May 7th, 1825.

The first schooUiouse was a log building. The date of its construction

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 493

cannot be determined, but it must have been about 1790, for it was torn down
in 1825 or 1826. because it was no longer fit for use. It stood where a later
borough, or common schoolhouse stood, and is now marked by. the old brick
house in the old St. Clair cemetery. The first information we have concern-
ing it is in a deed from William Jack to the burgesses and inhabitants of the
borough of Greensburg. This instrument is dated April 18, 1803. In de-
scribing the lot it says : "Upon which a log schoolhouse was erected by and
at the expense of certain inhabitants of said borough and its vicinity." After
the custom of that day it was built near a spring, and was a rude log cabin
about eighteen by twenty-four feet, one story high, with a shingle roof. The
furniture consisted of wooden benches of oak plank, and as long as the house
would admit. The writing desks were made of broad inch boards, and were
fastened to the walls around the inside of the building. They extended en-
tirely around the room except at the door. In this house were three or four
small eight by ten light windows. Among the early teachers were Robert
Williams and Robert iMorrison. Williams taught a long time, perhaps down
to 18 16 or '17. The third teacher was probably Robert Montgomery. After
him came Gideon H. Tanner, who was a man of considerable attaimnents and
introduced many improvements in the school and in the mode of teaching.
Other old school teachers were Samuel Carpenter, Daniel C. Morris and Johrt
Armstrong, the former of whom afterwards became the county surveyor,,
state senator, sherifif and associate judge of the county. They were probably
the last to teach in the old log school house in 1823 and 1824. John Arm-
strong was admitted to the bar in 1825, and was the father of the late John,
and James Armstrong, of the Greensburg bar. Later teachers were Edward
Stokes and Peter R. Pearsall, who taught school in the one-story frame build-
ing on West Pittsburgh street, belonging to John Kuhns, and also in the
Academy borough schoolhouse. Mrs. Mary Foster came to Greensburg
about 1824, and shortly after that commenced teaching. She was engaged
almost constantly after that in teaching public and private schools, and only
relinquished teaching a few years before her death, which occurred July 27,
1882.

In 1829, where the Methodist Church now stands, on Main street, there
was an old log house owned by Dr. Postlethwaite. In this house, Miss Lydia
Biddle kept school for many years. She was a well educated woman, and
taught the children of the wealthier and more intelligent people of Greens-
burg almost exclusively.

.Another old schoolmaster was an Englishman named Somerville. Alf
the schools in the town were then maintained by subscription. Mr. Somer-
ville taught the pupils after they had passed through Aliss Biddle's school.
He was a tall, straight, stern looking man, with a thin sallow face, "over-
hanging black brows from under which gleamed two savage eyes." He was
a tasty man in his dress, wearing always a long black frock coat, cravat and

494 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

standing collar. His whole appearance inspired awe and respect. It is said
that after the pupils were seated he on one occasion inquired what books they
had brought, and found the collection to consist of such works as Dilworth's
-and Alurray's readers, the Old and New Testament, Plutarch's Lives, Aesop's
Fables, etc. He, however, very ingeniously arranged the school in classes
with these text-books. In order to enforce discipline he always walked to the
woods on Saturday afternoon and brought in a goodly-sized bundle of rods.
After teaching here for some years he left Greensburg suddenly, and nothing
was ever heard of him again. He had the reputation of being a good scholar,
and this among the learned men of the town. It was said that he was a grad-
uate of a British university. Even at an early period in Greensburg the citi-
zens showed a great interest in education. They helped to open schools on
Academy Hill and Bunker Hill. The latter was under the charge of Rev.
Milligan. The Academy Hill school was taught by Rev. Cannon, a great light
in the Presbyterian world. The ordinary schools created a desire for a higher
institution of learning, and accordingly an act of legislature was passed in
i8io incorporating an academy in Greensburg. It was built on the hill north
■of town, on the same ground now occupied by the Greensburg high schools.
To this the state gave a donation of $2,000. In 1836 or 1837 the state gave
another donation, but this was given in common to all the academies and
■seminaries throughout Pennsylvania, and probably in some degree took the
place of the munificent donations now given to the normal schools. This
incorporated school was known as the Greensburg Academy, and was held in
a plain two-story brick building, with four windows and a door in the first
story, and five windows in the second. The rooms below were intended for
a family to live in. Of the rooms above, one large one was used for the girls
of the school and the other for the boys. There was a general idea in that
day that it was the instructor's bounden duty to keep the boys and girls
■strictly separate. They had not only different rooms, but different playgrounds
and different times for intermission.

The act incorporating the schools required that the dead languages and
higher mathematics be taught in the academy, in addition to the rudiments
•of a common English education. To the course of study was added after-
wards the French and German languages. Among the first teachers in the
old academy were Jonathan Findley, Charles Lucas and Thomas Will. Find-
ley was the brother of William Findley, once governor of Pennsylvania, and
an uncle to James Findley, one of the early and able members of the West-
moreland and Allegheny county bars. These men were succeeded by James
Jones, Samuel Sherwell. Messrs. Farnsworth. Lathrop, Ames, Woodend, and
Moore. The academy was kept up until about 1850, when it caught fire and
was burned to the ground. Some of the instructors of this academv were
men of high intellectual attainments. Thomas Will had been graduated with
high honor at St. Andrew's, in Scotland, and James Jones was graduated at

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 495

St. Omer's, in France. Shcrwell was regarded as one of the most accurate
English scholars in the United States, and was an author of much note in
his day. Lathrop, Farnsworth and Ames were natives of New England,
and all were college graduates. Many of the alumni of the old Greens-
burg Academy became eminent men. Among them were Henry D. Foster,
the noted Greensburg lawyer; Thomas Williams, of the Pittsburgh bar; James
Reed, Senator Edgar Cowan, Augustus Drum, Judge J. M. Burrell, Governor
William F. Johnston, Albert G. Marchand, Captain Alexander Montgomery,
J. Herron Foster, Peter C. Shannon, Judge Thomas Mellon, and many others
who gained fame and fortune in the pulpit, at the press, at the bar, and in
other walks of professional life. After the burning of the academv building
there was no special school established in Greensburg until 1862. At that
time the school directors made a contract with the trustees of the burned acad-
emy for the transfer of the funds and grounds of the institution to them. A new
building was erected at once and finished in 1863, and is now known as Pub-
lic School Building No. i. Four departments were opened in it as soon as
it was finished. It stands on the site of the old Greensburg Academy, among
the better residences of Greensburg, and faces the west. Its builder was Gor-
don AI. Lyon, of Greensburg.

About 1840 came Miss Boggs, Miss Gillett, Miss Stewart, and Margaret
Craig. Aliss Mary Isett taught in the basement of the United Brethren
Church about i860. Miss Kilgore, Miss Mitchell, Miss Emily Drumni and
Miss Isabel J. Williams all taught select schools in Greensburg. The latter
is probably remembered more kindly by those who knew her well than any
other woman who has been connected with the schools of Greensburg. After
• her came Miss Garner (the late Mrs. Townsend), who taught from 1866
until 1868 or 1869. Miss McGinnis, Mrs. Gohen and Miss McFarren were
also regularly employed in the Greensburg schools.

In 1814 a military academy was established in Greensburg by C. D. Hass,
but it was not patronized as it should have been and was soon abandoned.

In 1849 '^h^ Muhlenberg Collegiate Institute was established by the Lu-
theran Synod of Pittsburgh, with Rev. R. \\'. Ruthraui? as principal, but it
ini fortunately lasted only two years.

The Greensburg Institute was established in 185 1, with W. D. Moore
as principal. In 1853 R^v. R. J. White, brother of the late Judge J. W. F.
White, of Pittsburgh, took charge of it, but only when it was on the decline,
and. though a man of fine education, he was unable to restore it.

About i860 the Catholics built a small school house south of their church
on North Main street, and in 1892 a second school house was built containing
four school rooms. In 1904 this was replaced by a large and convenient brick
school building.

On November 18, 1S95, the school board of Greensburg decided to erect

496 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

a new and handsome building to be called the "Greensburg High School,"
large enough to accommodate four hundred pupils. S. W. Fraizer, of Pitts-
burgh, was the architect. Bonds were issued to the amount of $74,000, bear-
ing interest at five per cent., payable in gold. It was built in 1896, and is
now by far the finest and most stately school building in Westmoreland county.
The sixtieth anniversary of the public schools in Greensburg was celebrated
in this building on June 8, 1897.

A great fire occurred in Greensburg in 1858. On Tuesday, the 21st of
September, the fire broke out in the stable of Jeremiah Gilchrist, near ']\Iain
street, and near the present site of the IMasonic Temple. Before it could be
controlled it destroyed the whole portion of the square south of the Keenan
building and residence of John M. Lohr, in which the postoffice was kept.
The loss was estimated at $30,000 at that time, and considering the size of
the town, it was indeed the greatest fire financially that Greensburg has ever
had. For a time it was doubtful whether the town could be saved, but after
three hours' work on the part of the citizens the conflagration was checked.
The ground remained vacant for a long time after that, and presented a deso-
late appearance. At length the first building was erected in the "burnt dis-
trict," and was used a§ a law office by General Henry D. Foster. It has since
been covered with fine buildings, notably the imposing Masonic Temple and
the store rooms immediately south. The Robinson corner was burned on
the loth day of October, 1875. The ground is now covered with the Baugh-
man building. Another great fire was the burning of the Naly Opera House,
which stood on the corner of Pennsylvania avenue and Second street. The
Laird House stood on the corner of Pennsylvania avenue and West Otterman
street. It was a fine building, owned by the late Harrison P. Laird, and was
consumed by fire in January, 1887. This fire caugjit from buildings on the op-
posite corner known as the Stark building, and both corners were laid in
desolation. The loss was greater than in the fire of 1858, but the town was
larger and better able to bear the calamity.

In common with most towns in western Pennsylvania, the people of Greens-
burg in an early day believed that a market house was indispensable, and
had constructed one on the southwestern corner of West Pittsburgh and Alain
streets, a few years after the town was laid out. In one of the old records
of the borough is found an account of Nathan Williams for its construction.
It is dated October 30, 1801, and his bill was $240. Another bill is for paving
the market house and graveling the ground in front of it. This was done by
Nathan Stewart, and for this work he was paid $128.50. For posting the
market house, for it stood largely on pillars or posts, the charge was $8. For
taking out stumps from the ground upon which it was built the borough paid
James McLaughlin $1.50. This market house stood for many years. The
lot upon which it stood was owned by the borough and sold to the county for
one dollar. It is now the most valuable lot in the county. A second market

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 497

house was erected on the southwest corner of Pennsylvania avenue and Sec-
ond street, which was removed in 1869.

The First Reformed Church of Greensburg was taken from Harrold's
Church, about three miles southwest of Greensburg. When the town of
Greensburg began to build up a congregation was organized here. They pur-
chased a lot of ground from Michael Truby and Peter Miller, on South Main
street, for the consideration of four pounds, and farther on down Main street
was bought the ground for the German graveyard, for the same amount of
money. The first communion held by them in Greensburg was held by Rev.
John William Weber, on April 22, 1796. The church was built of logs and
was of large dimensions. It was owned in partnership by the German Re-
formed and Lutheran churches. The worshippers sat on rude benches. There
were no stoves or heaters, or even chimneys or flues, and at first there was
not even a pulpit in the church. In cold weather public worship was held in
private dwellings or in the old courthouse. Another lot and a half, adjoin-
ing the one on which the church stood, was bought on May 15, 1815, from
a man named Ehrenfriedt, for $300. On this lot of ground the present brick
church was built. A church which preceded the present one was built in
the summer of 1819, and the dedication sermon was preached by Rev. Henry
Gerhart, of Bedford. The original members were : Simon Drum, John Tur-
ney, Jacob Barnhart, Jacob Buergy, William Barnhart, Daniel Turney, Michael
Truby, Peter Barnhart, Susanna Drum, Anna Barnhart, Magdalena Huber,
Catherine Mechling, Maria Myers, i\Iaria Walter, Catharine Silvis, Susanna
Turney, Elizabeth Sourer, Elizabeth Barnhart, all of whom were members
for a generation. The church built in 1819 cost about $6,000 and en-
tailed a large debt which was not wiped out for many years. Until 1875
the services in this church by the Reformed people were almost exclusively
in the German language. Rev. Weber was succeeded by Rev. Henry Harbi-
son, who was followed in 1819 by Rev. Dr. Nicholas P. Hacke. Further his-
tory of this church will be found in the part of this work devoted to church
history in general. The Second Reformed Church was established in 1844.
They built an edifice in 1851, which was completed in 1852.

Zion's Evangelical Lutheran congregation was practically founded by
Rev. Michael John Steck, in 1847, when he made arrangements for regular Eng-
lish services to be held for the time being in the German church. Rev. John
Rugan was the English Lutheran minister who took charge of this branch of
the congregation. The German Lutheran people closed their houses to these
English speaking people, some of whom were their own children, and for a
short time the use of the Episcopal church was obtained. When that could
be no longer had they used the courthouse. They moved from the court-
house to the old Presbyterian church, which they leased and used until the
fall of 185 1, when their own building was finished and dedicated. The lot
of ground was secured from John Kuhns, on the corner of Pennsylvania ave-

498

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

nue and Second street, upon which there has since been built a new and
commanding edifice. The church built in 185 1 cost $2,800. Rev. Michael
Eyster was the pastor and continued with great success until August, 1853,
when his work was suddenly ended by death. Rev. Milton Valentine fol-
lowed him, and he was followed by Rev. A. H. \\'aters, who in 1855 gave
way to Rev. W. F. Ulery. Rev. Ulery ministered to them but a short time
and was succeeded by Rev. Daniel Garver, of Canton, Ohio, who began his
work in October, 1863. He was followed in January, 1866, by Rev. J. K.
Plitt, who remained until July, 1873. On the 6th of May, 1874, Rev. A. H.
Bartholomew became their pastor, and after his resignation Rev. W. F. Ulery
again ministered to them. On March 8, 1877, the church was burned to the
ground and a movement was inaugurated at once to erect a new one. The

building committee were: Lewis Trauger, George F. Huff, C. H. Stark,
Joseph Bowman, Z. P. Bierer, John Kooser and Lewis Walthour. It was
dedicated on the first day of August, 1879, Rev. Joseph A. Seiss, D. D., of
Philadelphia, preaching the dedicatory sermon.

The Greensburg Presbyterian Church asked Presbytery for supplies on
the 15th of April, 1788, and was organized as a congregation in May, 1789.
On October 23, 1800, Rev. John Black was assigned to them, and remained
until his death in 1802. Their next minister was Rev. William Speer, who
came in 1803 and ministered to them until 1829, when he was released on
account of declining health. He died April 26, 1829. Rev. Robert Henry
followed him. Rev. Henry was married to a sister of James Buchanan, aft-
erwards President of the LTnited States, and during his residence here was
frequently visited by IMr. Buchanan. He served them until his death in 1838.

HISTORY GF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 499

The church was then filled by supplies for two years, when Rev. J. I. Brown-
son was installed in 1841. He remained with them seven years, when he be-
came president of Washington College and pastor of the church at Washing-
ton, Pennsylvania. He was succeeded by Rev. William D. Moore in 1849,
who remained until June, 1853. Rev. Moore afterwards read law, abandoned
the ministry and became a criminal lawyer of great prominence in Pittsburgh.
In 1854 and 1855 they were ministered to by Rev. David Kennedy, who was
succeeded by Rev. Joseph Smith, who resigned in 1865 on account of age.
Rev. W. H. Gill followed him, and was installed in 1867. In 1870 he re-
signed and moved to Missouri. His successor was Rev W. W. Moorhead,
who was installed May 13, 1871, and remained with them until his death in
1897. He was succeeded by Rev. W. W. Wallace, the present pastor. In
1883, under the pastorate of Rev. Dr. Moorhead, they built a very commodious
church edifice which is yet in use and is one of the handsomest church build-
ings in Greensburg. Dr. Moorhead is perhaps remembered more kindly for
his many good acts and able preaching than any other pa.stor of Greensburg
in the last forty years. The ground upon which the Presbyterian Church
stands was donated by Judge William Jack in 1803.

The first organization of an Episcopal church, now Christ's Church, which
held services was in 1818, when they were supplied by a rector named Taylor,
from Pittsburgh. At that time they used the old court house as a place of
worship. The congregation was properly organized in 1821 and was incor-
porated the same year. In 1823 a brick church was erected on what is now
Maple avenue. This served them for more than a score of years, when Judge
William Jack donated a lot to them on North Main street, and upon this a
brick church was built. The corner stone of this church was laid by the now
renowned Bishop Potter, who was then a young man serving as rector of
the Greensburg congregation. He laid the corner stone on September i, 1852,
and the church was finished in May, 1854. The rectors of this church have
been as follows: From 1830 to 1840, Lanson K. Brunot, J. L. Harrison, S.
■C. Freeman, and J. J. Kerr. Joseph Adderly ; 1842 to 1848, Bruce Batcheller;
1850 to 1855, W. H. Paddock; 1855 to 1857, Fayette Derlin; 1857 to 1861,
Henry C. Potter; 1861 to 1866, A. F. Steele; 1866 to 1876, George Slattery,

C. C. Parker and George C. Rafter; 1876 to 1877, O'Connell ; 1877

to 1880, J. W. Protheroe; 1881, J. B. Jennings.

The Methodist Church in Greensburg began with the organization of a
class at the house of Samuel Bushfield, in 1799. The members were Samuel
Bushfield and his wife, Catharine; Jacob Kern and Susanna, and John Kern
and his wife. In 1833 the first Methodist church was built. The contract
price was $638.85 for a brick building forty-two feet long by thirty feet wide,
one story high. It was seated with slab and board benches. This church
was on South Main street, joining the present Presbyterian Church parson-
age. It was sold to the school directors of Greensburg in 1849, ^"d ^^ still

500

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

standing, being now used as a dwelling house. After the sale of this property
they used a former Presbyterian church in St. Clair cemetery and the court-
house in which to held their services. In 1850 a lot on the northeast corner
of Main and Second streets was purchased from Jehu Taylor. The present
church building on this lot was completed in the fall of 1852. On November
25 the church was dedicated by Bishop Matthew Simpson. The pastor in
charge then was Rev. James G. Sansom, famous as a camp-meeting preacher
and revivalist, and who lives in history as the sweetest singer in early Meth-
odism.

The first Methodist Sunday-school was organized in 1835. This building
served them well for some years, and was enlarged and greatly improved. In
1905 the church was sold to the Westmoreland Realty Company for $58,000,
and on an adjoining lot on the corner of Maple avenue and Second street a
much more commodious and handsome building is now being constructed.

The United Brethren Church, while they held services occasionally before,
was properly organized in 1857, when there were nine members. They were :
Joseph Gross and wife, Joseph Walters, Mrs. Daniel Reamer, John L. Holmes
and wife, A. G. Marsh and wife, and a man named Crooks. The first church
was erected on a lot nearly opposite the present church building, and was a
brick structure thirty-eight by fifty-two feet. This building was burned on
July 22, 1879, by an incendiary named Daniel Smithson, who upon his trial
plead guilty and was sentenced to a long term in the Western Penitentiary.
The second building and present edifice was dedicated October 10, 1881. It
has since been improved, and is a very neat and handsome edifice.

For the further accounts of the early churches the reader will examine
the chapter on Church History.

For many years the largest and most beautiful cemetery in Greensburg was
the St. Clair cemetery, named in honor of Major General Arthur St. Clair.
Formerly a part of it had been known as the Presbyterian graveyard, and
this was enlarged by a donation from William Jack "to the burgesses and in-
habitants of Greensburg." This deed was dated April 18, 1803, and is re-
corded in Deed Book No. 7, page 108. The purposes of the ground was to
secure for Greensburg a place to erect a house of worship, and the residue
was to be used as a burial place for the dead. The Presbyterians for many
years occupied a building on this ground as their place of worship. The ceme-
tery was very much admired in fonner years, and many of Greenburg's emi-
nent citizens were finally laid to rest within its borders. In 1888 the place was
abandoned as a place of sepulture and a new cemetery bearing the same name
was opened about two miles east of Greensburg, on the south side of the
Greensburg and Stoystown turnpike, since which time the old cemeterv in
Greensburg has been badly neglected. Both the old and new cemetery have
many pretty monuments, and the new one is kept in splendid condition and
is a delightful cemetery location.

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 501

The South JNIain street, or German graveyard, laid out, we beHeve, by
the German Reformed and Lutheran congregations, has long since been
abandoned as a place of burial, although there are yet in it many graves that
will probably never be removed. They, too, have a new cemetery about two
miles northeast of Greensburg, which is known as Union Cemetery.

The Catholic graveyard on North Main street, surrounding their church
and other buildings belonging to them, has also been abandoned, and another
a short distance northeast of Greensburg has been laid out.

The United Presbyterian church of Greensburg has been considered in the
general church history.

The most important industry in Greensburg is the extensive manufacturing
plant of the Kelly & Jones Company, established in 1888, and which now
employs one thousand men. They manufacture iron pipe, fittings, brass and
iron valves, cocks for steam, gas, water, and oil machinery ; also iron and steel '
tubing. They sell their product in all parts of the commercial world. They
have branch offices in New York, Chicago and Pittsburgh. At the latter city
they have a large store also. This plant covers twenty-one acres of ground,
and one of its buildings has 76,000 square feet of floor space. The officers
are : John Kelly, president ; James Bolph, vice-president ; W. J. Kelly, secre-
tary ; and George M. Jones, treasurer. It is incorporated with a capital of
$300,000.

The Brown-Ketcham Iron Works, makers of structural and ornamental
iron and steel, is a branch of the main plant at Indianapolis, Indiana, estab-
lished thirty-five years ago. The Greensburg branch was established in 1902,
and capitalized at $500,000. One hundred and seventy-five men are employed,
and the gross annual output is 180,000 gross tons, which product goes to all
parts of the United States. William H. Brown is president.

The Hempfield Foundry, a general foundry and machine shop, was estab-
lished in April, 1898. They employ seventy-two men, and have an annual
business of $60,000 in the production of bronze and grey iron castings, brass
castings and mining cars. The president is J. Howard Patton.

Places of amusement of an early day have been referred to elsewhere. Until
the building of the Nailey Opera House the court room was generally used
for all public performances. In 1879 the Lowison Opera House was built,
and served Greensburg as a public hall exclusively till 1903, when the
St. Clair Theatre was built by the late George W. Good. It is situated on
South Main street, and is one of the most complete rooms in the state outside
of the large cities. It was opened October 14, 1903.

The Greensburg Country Club has a fine location two miles west, on the
Pittsburgh, McKeesport and Greensburg street car line. It includes a large
golf links, and has erected on it a suitable club house. It is kept up almost
exclusively by Greensburg people. The Benevolent and Protective Order of
Elks have a large lodge, and own a splendidly equipped club house on the
corner of East Pittsburgh street and Maple avenue.

CHAPTER

Hempfield Township.— Jeannette, "The Glass City."— Mt. Pleasant Township.

Hempfield is one of the old original townships, and was organized at
Hannastown on the first day of our Westmoreland courts, namely, April 6,
1773. Its boundaries were then much larger than now, for it reached from
Crabtree run to the Conemaugh river, and included all the territory lying along
the Kiskiminetas river and then down to the Youghiogheny and Jacob's creek.
At present it is bounded on the north by Salem ; northeast by Unity ; southeast
by Mt. Pleasant ; south by East Huntingdon ; southwest by South Huntingdon ;
west by Sewickley, and northwest by North Huntingdon and Penn townships.

A part of its original territory was taken off by Act of Assembly of JMarch
4, 1845. The part then taken off was ceded to East Huntingdon township.
Again in 1872 the division line was changed between Penn township and
Hempfield township. It contains a great deal of fertile land, and is abundantly
underlaid with bituminous coal. It is well supplied with churches, schools,
and other evidences of a high order of civilization and culture.

The first officers of the township, chosen in 1773, were John Brown, consta-
ble; Samuel Miller and Alexander Thompson, poor directors; Wendell Ourry,
of Revolutionary fame, road supervisor.

The first settlers in the township of Hempfield were nearly all Germans,
and came largely from the southeastern counties of Pennsylvania. Some of
them, however, came directly from Germany. Among the original settlers
were the Harrolds, Froelichs, Henrys, Rughs, Drums, Ottermans, Marchands
(who came from Switzerland), Benders (now called Painters), Kunkles,
Longs, Gongweres, Detars, Millers, Snyders, Turneys, Fritchmans, Klingen-
smiths, Thomases, Barnharts, Mechlings, Trubys, Rohrers, Huffnagles, Hubers,
Kemps, Reamers, Kepples, Alwines, Kifers, Whiteheads, Shruins, Byerlys,
Eisamans, Clines, Walthours, Baughmans, Grosses, Seanors and others. These
pioneer settlers were scattered over a much wider territory than is now included
in the limits of Hempfield township. They were, moreover, a substantial and
hardy race, and gave character to a large part of the present Westmoreland
county. Many of our best people are descended from them. They very early

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 503

showed their interest in rehgion by establishing churches. Harrold's Church,
or St. John's Reformed Church, as it is sometimes called, has been treated of
heretofore under Church History. It is situated about four miles southwest of
Greensburg. Brush Creek Reformed Church has also been spoken of in the
same part of this work.

In 1783, when Rev. John Weber was pastor. Dr. David Marchand took up
for church and school purposes near Brush creek one hundred and eighty-two
acres of land, part of a large tract which Dr. Marchand had himself taken up.
This property was deeded to the German Lutheran and German Reformed
churches on July 20, 1797, the consideration being 28 pounds, 12 shillings and
6 pence. Upon this land they erected a log school house, which they used also
for a place of worship. It was burned by the Indians while the neighbors
were temporarily driven from their homes. , It was rebuilt, the second structure
being also of hewn logs. It had one door and one window. Its floors were
puncheons, and its seats were hewn logs. There was no pulpit, no gallery,
and a common board table served for the altar.

In 1816 the corner stone was laid for the present brick church edifice, and
it was completed about 1820, at which time it was dedicated by the Lutheran
and Reformed pastors, assisted by Rev. Henry Gerhart of Bedford. A debt
hung over it for some time, and John Shrum and Adam Baughman. trustees,
were authorized by the legislature to sell eighty-two acres for the church
debt. In 1864 the legislature authorized the sale of forty-one acres of coal
underlying the church lands. In 1870 a pipe organ costing about one thousand
dollars was put into this church.

In Rev. Weber's notes he says, "That during the early part of the time he
served the congregation," namely, from 1783 to 1816, "it was necessary for
those who worshipped there to bring their rifles to church with them in order
to protect themselves and their friends from the attacks of the Indians." A
rifle company in connection with the church kept itself in readiness at all times
to march in relief for the people of that community. Young people came from
long distances, even from as far as the Kiskiminetas river, and some even from
Butler county, to attend worship here. There were at that time no fireplaces
in the church, and he says that he "frequently directed the boys to go out and
build a wood fire of brush on the outside of the church, so that during intermis-
sion the communicants might warm themselves by it." Bonnets were not worn
by the young women who attended these classes, or at church. A handkerchief
around the head was the only headgear the }'oung women wore.

St. Paul's (or Seanor's) Church was founded about 1783, and was another
of Mr. Weber's appointments. The original church was a log building, rudely
built and rudely furnished, and was on the present site of Seanor's Church.
It was not finished until about 1816, when Rev. William Weinel became pastor.
He had been the traveling schoolmaster from Northampton county, and served
them as pastor until 1829, when he resigned and moved away. He was fol-

504

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

lowed by Rev. Nicholas P. Hacke, who in turn, in 1832, was succeeded by
Rev. H. E. F. Voight, who came directly from the Fatherland. He preached
there until 1862.

The village of Xew Stanton is about seven miles southwest of Greensburg.
It was laid out by Benjamin Snyder on a road which formerly led from Somer-
set to Pittsburgh. The Reformed Church established a church there in 1872
under the ministry of Rev. John W. Love, who was then pastor at Seanor's
Church and at Greensburg. In 1875 they built the present edifice, the corner
stone being laid on June 12th, by Rev. Dr. W. W. Moorhead, of the First
Presbyterian Church of Greensburg.

On March 11, 1876, the citizens of a small village named Madison peti-
tioned our courts for incorporation as a borough. It was incorporated October
3. 1876.

Adamsburg, another borough, was incorporated by Act of Assembly on the
5th of March, 1841. For the first election, which was held on the third Friday
of April, Jacob Gosser, Jacob Steiner and John Mellville were to give notice.

Other villages within its limits are Painterville. named after Colonel Israel
Painter : Middletown, in the southeastern portion of the township, a rural
village in a rich and fertile section ; Grapeville, along the railroad between
Greensburg and Jeannette ; and Arona.

Hempfield township had fifty-six schools with 2,314 pupils enrolled, in 1904.

Jeannette, "the glass city," bears the proud distinction of being the first
large manufacturing town within Westmoreland county, the sixth county in
population in the state in 1900. It has the largest window glass plant in the
world, and the largest pressed glass concern in America. According to gov-
ernment statistics it produces more glass in various forms than any place in
the United States.

This borough derived its name from the wife of one of the founders,
Jeannette being the name of Mrs. McKee, whose husband, H. Sellers McKee,
in company with the Western Land and Improvement Company of Philadel-
phia, together with Messrs. Chambers and Brickell, of Pittsburgh, purchased
in the spring of 1888 the farms of J. F. Thompson, Solomon Loughner and
J. F. Gilchrist. The discovery of natural gas at Grapeville brought ready
capital to this point. The land company named established an office in an old
brick farm house, which then stood in an orchard near where the Presbyterian
church now stands. The building of the Chambers & McKee Glass Works
was the first move toward town building in Jeannette. In June, 1888, the
company commenced to erect a long row of brick dwelling houses, and all
wondered who were to occupy such fine houses. Lots sold at first at $400,
but before a year rolled by they sold at $1,200. The phenomenal growth of
Jeannette was only equalled by the building of \^andergrift and IMonessen at
a little later period. The question of fuel, always a factor to be counted in
any factory town, was solved by generous nature long years ago, for within

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 505

two miles of Jeannette are situated vast coal beds of the best gas-producer
in Pennsylvania. As to coke, another essential, the borough is near the
famous Connellsville coke district, making freight merely a nominal sum,
while the natural gas lines entering the place afiford cheap fuel in that class.
The place was plotted in April, 1888, and by the same month in 1889 fully
four thousand people called the place their home. It now numbers between
seven and eight thousand, and, including its suburbs, fully ten thousand. Its
banks are: The First National, established in 1889, on $50,000 capital.
To-day (1905) it has $75,000 undivided profits and $375,000 in deposits. The
Jeannette National Bank commenced business about 1900. It has $50,000
capital. The Jeannette Savings and Trust Company opened for business July
10, 1903. The capital is now $135,000.

There are seven great glass factories. It may be stated that these, with
the Rubber plant, are what the business life of the borough depends on. The
largest tableware glass factory in the world is that of the McKee-Jeannette
Glass Works. This was the pioneer plant of the place, and was then known as
the McKee Brothers' Works. The first glass produced was in September,
1888. It covers six acres of ground, has six furnaces of 105 pot capacity, and
employs from five to six hundred men. Its monthly pay roll is $25,000.
Eighty per cent, of its product is sold in America, and twenty per cent, ex-
ported to its salesrooms in all the large European cities. They make what is
known as the press-cut glass goods, a real rival, as they claim, to the genuine
cut glass.

The American Window Glass Companv has the largest single window
glass plant in the world. The immense building is of brick and stone. Blow-
ing machines are used here in the production of fine window glass. Five years
ago the plant came into its present management, it formerly being the Cham-
bers-McKee Glass Company. They employ about one thousand men.

The Pittsburg Lamp, Brass and Glass Company, formerly Dithridge &
Company, moved from Pittsburgh. They make many grades of lamps, shades,
stands, chimneys, etc., in both crystal and opal glass. Hundreds of men,
girls and boys find steady employment here.

The Westmoreland Specialty Company, at Grapeville (near by), is another
large plant working in glass goods. They make tableware, and novelties in
plain and decorated goods.

The Jeannette Glass Company make fine prescription ware, liquor ovals,
"beers," "brandies," "milks," flasks, etc. While competition in the bottle
business is sharp in the United States, this firm steadily advances to the front
ranks.

The Empire Glass Company, composed of Jeannette people, was formed
in 1904. They make chimneys and shades, and so far have been unable to
fill their orders as rapidly as they come in.

The Clifford-Cappelle Fan Company manufactures on a large scale the

5o6 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY

celebrated Cappelle fan, used in so many coal mines in North and South
America. Recently another twenty-six acre tract of land has been added to
accommodate their works.

One of the most important plants, engaged the year around, is the Penn-
sylvania Rubber Works, which cover a large area of ground. It was formerly
located at Erie, Pennsylvania, moving to Jeannette a few years since. Hun-
dreds of men and women find employment at these extensive works.

The Fort Pitt Glass Company have a fine plant in North Jeannette. Their
works were recently burned, but are being rebuilt.

Jeannette has thirteen churches, all the leading denominations being rep-
resented here. The Evangelical Lutheran Church was formed in 1888, the
first year in the borough's history. The first meeting was held in the packing
room of the Window Glass Company's works. June 23, 1894, their handsome
church was dedicated. It cost $12,000. The Methodist Episcopal Church
service was held here in the autumn of 1888, when Rev. B. T. Thomas, of
Manor, preached in the unfinished cutting room of the glass works. A church
was formed in 1889. January 12, 1900, the present magnificent edifice was
dedicated. Its cost was $17,000. It is a buff pressed brick building. Grace
Reformed Church was organized April 7, 1889, and a neat church dedicated
May 25, 1890. The United Presbyterian Church was formed September 21,

1889, with ten members. A good edifice was first occupied September 14,

1890. The Baptist Church was organized in 1890, and now numbers two
hundred. They have a good building. The German Evangelical Protestant
Church is a frame structure, and the society, though small, is made up of good
workers. The Free Methodist Church is in West Jeannette. It is a neat
frame building. The German Lutheran Church is an old society here, and
they own a good frame building. In the western portion of the borough is
the German Baptist Church, a frame house, though well appointed for the
needs of this congregation. The cornerstone of a fine red brick church belong-
ing to the Episcopal people of Jeannette was laid July 26, 1904. The public
schools have kept pace with the enterprises of the borough and now have
three houses. One, the high school, is an exceptionally fine structure.

The newspapers of the borough are the Dispatch and the Jrcsfiiiorcland
Journal. Both are live, weekly papers, an honor to their town and their
editors.

Jeannette has seven miles of paved streets, also good walks of stone or
brick, and her sewerage system is excellent. The borough of Jeannette is one
of six places within the county having special mail delivery. In the earlv years
of this borough's history it suffered great loss from fires, but now with four
well drilled companies, aided by up-to-date appliances and good supply of
water but little trouble arises from this source.

The name Mt. Pleasant is a very old one in Western Pennsylvania history.
It was used to designate a section in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania,

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 507

while all this country was included within the limits of Bedford county. When
the county was erected in 1773, Alt. Pleasant township was at once laid out
with the following boundaries: Beginning where the Loyalhanna breaks
through the Chestnut Ridge, and running down the Loyalhanna to the mouth
of Crabtree Run, and by the same to the Forbes Road ; thence to the Braddock
Road ; and thence with the south side of that road to where it crosses Jacob's
Creek, and to the line of Fairfield township. When Unity township was
erected in 1789 its limits were changed, and at various times afterwards. It
is now bounded on the north by Unity ; on the east by Chestnut Ridge, which
separates it from Donegal township; on the south by Fayette county; on the
southeast by East Huntingdon township ; and on the northwest by Hempfield
township. Among its early settlers were the following, whose names were
taken from the township tax list of 1783 as made out by John Giffen, asses-
sor, with William Lochry and James Gutery as assistants : William Anderson,
Christopher Amalong, Samuel Bradley, John Baird, James Brownfield, Conrad
Byers, Martin Bush, Jacob Carver, George Crawford, Samuel Coulter, Robert
Cochran, Alex Craig, Thomas Elliott, John Fiscus, James Guthrie, Nathaniel
Hurst, John Hunter, John Jamison, John Jack, William Kirkpatrick, Chris-
topher Lobingier, Moses Latta, Hugh Martin, Alex McKinney, George Mc-
Donal. John Moore, Robert Newell, Robert Nichols, Rev. James Power,
Thomas Patton, James Pershing, John Proctor, David Rankin, George Salder,
Gen. St. Clair, N. R., David \\'hite, Gasper Weaver, David Kilgore, James
Pollock, James Steel, Samuel Todd, Joseph Thompson, Matthew Simpson,
John JNIurphy, James McBride.

Hugh Martin was one of the early settlers, coming to this township in
1769. As we have seen, he was very early commissioned a justice of the peace,
and was elected by the people to the same office, and under the state constitu-
tion of 1790 he was commissioned by Governor Mifflin. He was born in 1735
and died July 18, 1823, and was considered a man of high character.

Another early settler was John Giffen, who came there about 1770. Still
another was Captain David Kilgore, who came from Cumberland county, and
who served in the Revolutionary war. He had been married to Sarah Mickey
before coming to this section.

James Galloway came from York county, and took up lands close to the
village of Overton. He was a blacksmith, and the only one in the community,
combining that with agriculture. During the Revolutionary war he was
drafted, and his neighbors, rather than spare their only blacksmith, united
in their efiforts and secured a substitute, who for entering the war as a substi-
tute was paid twelve dollars in money, a rifle gun and a butcher-knife.

Conrad Byers came from Germany, and on June 3, 1773, purchased three
hundred and thirt3'-nine acres of land. On this he built a log house, and it
was frequently used during Indian incursions as a place of safety. His wife
was Alary Riel, who had been a "redemptioner," who had to pay her passage

5o8 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

money bv her services after she arrived in America. Byers purchased her
indenture, brought her to Westmoreland county, and afterwards married her,
and their sons were Peter, Andrew and John. The land taken up by Conrad
is yet in the name of his descendants.

Nathaniel Hurst was the founder of the Hurst family in this section, and
came to Alt. Pleasant township in 1790. His patents called for one thousand
acres of land. His' descendants have been connected by intermarriage with the
best people of our county. John Lemon came from Ireland to America in
1762, and to Alt. Pleasant in 1794. He took up a tract of land containing
three hundred and fifty acres, all covered with timber, and lived there until his
death in 1812. Robert Newell came from New Jersey in 1775. His tract of
land contained two hundred and eighty-two acres, which was patented to him
1789. He was the progenitor of the Newell family which has been noted in
Westmoreland county for almost a century. Charles Lewis Bush came from
Germany in 1792, and to Mt. Pleasant township in 1814.

Christian Lobengier was born in Lancaster county in 1740, and moved to
Mt. Pleasant township in 1772. He was the progenitor of his family in Alt.
Pleasant township. He was a delegate to the constitutional convention of
Pennsylvania in 1776; a member of the legislature from 1791 to 1793, and died
July 4, 1798. His wife was Elizabeth Aliiller, "born in Switzerland in 1744,
and came to Pennsylvania in 1749. She died September 5, 1815.

After the Revolutionary war Alt. Pleasant township received many settlers
from the eastern part of the state, most of whom belonged to a richer class
of people. They had more force, and cultivated their lands more rapidly
than had formerly been the custom. They built saw-mills, and grist-mills,
and gave much employment to the poor. They brought with them a better
class of domestic animals than our county had previously seen. They built
better houses, had better farms, and paid more attention to education than our
average settlers. Yet there were only two school houses built in the township
prior to 1834. As near as can be ascertained, nevertheless, they had used
deserted dwellings, shops, barn floors, etc., for school houses. When the free
school law was passed and submitted to the people for acceptance, the entire
vote of Alt. Pleasant township was against it save one vote, and at the second
election a few of the advanced citizens of the township took the matter in hand,
and by hard work secured a small majority in its favor. Among the first
directors were Jacob Lobengier, Daniel Worman, S. Aliller, Samuel Jack and
J. Fausold. Mt. Pleasant township has advanced very rapidly in schools since
that early day. Nearly every school house now in the township is built of
brick, and provided with all modern improvements.

St. John's Reformed Church, formerly known as Kintig's Church, was
founded in Alt. Pleasant township at a very early day by the German Re-
formed and Lutheran adherents. The date of its founding is not exactly
known, but Rev. John William Weber arrived in Westmoreland countv in

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 509

1782 and took charge of four congregations. 'One," says he, "was in Pitts-
burgh, one at Brush Creek, one at Harrold"s and one in Alt. Pleasant town-
ship." It was called Kintig's Church, because the services for some ;:ime were
held in Daniel Kintig's barn. Rev. Weber was succeeded by Rev. Hacke,
and, as has been before stated, this place of worship was two miles north of
]\It. Pleasant, on the road leading to Pleasant Unity. The land upon which the
church stands was donated by Daniel Kintig, Henry Fisher, Peter Rumbaugh
and Andrew Small. The land belonged to these four men, and cornered at
the place where the church now stands, and this part was given for church
purposes. The first church edifice was a small log building, and was used for
a meeting house and school liouse both. A brick church was erected here
in 1827, and this was removed and a new one erected in 1871.

St. Peter's Reformed Church was also used by the Lutherans, who were
ministered to in a very early day by Rev. Weber, and afterwards by Rev.
Hacke, the latter being practically its only pastor from 1819 until 1863. This
church is situated a mile and a half south of Pleasant Unity. The original
structure was of hewn logs, and for a long time was without gallery, pulpit,
altar or pews. The outside of the house was plastered. A brick church was
constructed there in 1846 by the two congregations, under the pastorate of
Rev. Hacke and Rev. Jonas Mechling. At that time they also founded a
Sunday school, and held it in a room over a distillery on the William Fisher
farm, about two miles from the church. This was in 1837. The two churches
worshipped there unitedly until 1875 and 1876.

The Presbyterian Church in I\It. Pleasant township is one of the oldest
church organizations west of the Allegheny mountains. It is situated about
two miles northeast of ]\It. Pleasant, and was formerly known as the Middle
Church. There was a graveyard nearby as early as 1773, which was the only
regular burial place in the community. In 1782 it was there that Peggy Shaw,
the heroine o,f Hannastown, who was shot in her kindly efforts to save a child's
life, was taken at her death for interment. In old "Redstone" it is said, "that
this congregation was organized in 1776 by Dr. James Power, who has been
previously spoken of. He served the congregation until 1817, when he re-
signed because of failing years. Rev. A. O. Patterson came next, and re-
mained with them until 1834. Then came Rev. S. Montgomery, who served
from 1836 to 1840, and he was followed by Rev. James Brownson, who re-
mained with them from 1840 to 1849. Afterwards came Rev. William D.
Moore, from 1850 to 1852, then Rev. William McLain ; Rev. John M. Barnett
from 1861 to 1869 ; Rev. John McMillan from 1869 to 1873, and Rev. W. .F.
Ewing in 1874. The first church was a log house which was replaced by a
brick structure that is still standing and in use. Rev. James Power resided
near the church in 1782, and it was to his home at this place that he rode
rapidly from Unity Church, near Latrobe, when he heard of the Indian raid
on Hannastown, July 13.

The township has thirty-nine schools and 1,964 pupils enrolled.

(5IO HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

There was probably a small village of three or four houses upon the present
site of the borough of Mt. Pleasant at the time of the Revolutionary War. One
house we know was erected by Michael Smith, as our court records indicate, and
was licensed as a pubHc inn in 1793. This house stood for nearly a century.
The old town of Mt. Pleasant was laid out by Andrew McCready, who pur-
chased the land from Nathaniel Marshall on August 28, 1797. In 1810 there
were about thirty-four houses in the village of Mt. Pleasant, all of which were
built of logs. The names of the citizens then living there were: Michael
Smith, Alexander McCready, Charles Fullwood, William Hunter, Conrad
Keister, William Cherry, Clement Burleigh, William Anderson, James Lippen-.
cot, James Estep, John Connell, William Flinn and David Hunter. The first
brick house in Mt. Pleasant was built in 1812. The town very early became
the home of an excellent class of people. It was on one o,f the main thorough-
fares between the east and the west ; the old road known as the Glade road had
been built by the state, and was the principal highway leading from Somerset to
West Newton, and thence to Pittsburgh. Later the Somerset and Mt. Pleasant
turnpike was organized. Upon this road the town depended for communica-
tion with other parts of the world. This road was generally known as the
Plank road, because it was actually planked in the late fifties. The planking
was a failure, but parts of it are now very greatly improved, and from Jones-
ville to Mount Pleasant it is one of the finest roads in the county.

A lady who wrote of the town in the early days of last century, spoke of the
business being done mainly on one street, which was long and narrow, with the
houses built close to the street, but few of them having front yards. The same
writer noticed the flimsy material of which the houses were constructed, but
thought some of them bore evidences of taste and refinement. She also re-
marked about the high moral and social standard of its residents, and the thrifty
appearance of the surrounding country.

The town was incorporated by Act of Assembly of February 7, 1828. The
inhabitants were empowered to hold their first election in the house o,f Robert
Hitchman. Their chief officers were to be one burgess, an assistant burgess, six
councilmen and a borough constable. By an Act of Assembly passed in 1845,
the borough was allowed to choose its own overseers of the poor, who were to be
kept separate and apart from those of the surrounding townships. The Act
appointed Samuel Shupe and Abraham Shallenberger overseers of the borough
until their successors could be elected. The first election o,f the borough was
held in May, 1828. Abraham Shallenberger was elected chief burgess, and
Jesse Lippencot, assistant burgess. The councilmen elected were Jacob Rubert,
Rev. Samuel Wakefield, Robert Hitchman, Jacob Kern and John Hosier.
David Fullwood was elected secretary, and John Hitchman, treasurer.

The United Presbyterian Church, the oldest in the borough, then called the
Associate Reformed church, was organized in ]Mt. Pleasant in 1802. but did
not secure a regular pastor until 1806, w^ien Rev. ]Mungo Dick assumed the
pastorate and filled the position eighteen years. He was followed by a va-

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 511

cancy of fifteen years, during which time they were suppHed with various pas-
tors, and in 1839 R^"^'- Richard Gailey became their pastor, and served them un-
til 1850. He was succeeded by Rev. D. H. Pollock, who remained but two
years, and in 1853 was succeeded by Rev. James Fife, who was installed in 1856
and continued until his death in 1861. Then came Rev. A. D. Fields, from 1862
to 1867. Then after a vacancy of four years came Rev. J. A. Nelson, who
served from 1871 to 1875. They have built three or four houses of worship,
the first being a leg house built about 1813, which was owned jointly by the
United Brethren and the Associate Reformed congregations. The second house
was built in 1830, which was owned by the same congregations, and was of
brick. In 1854 the United Brethren sold their interest to the Associate Re-
formed and built a new church. In 1.87 1 the brick church was taken down and
the present building was erected and dedicated on the 29th of February, 1872.
The land upon which this church was built was owned by Clarence Burleigh, a
public-spirited Irishman whose body rests in the centre of that plot of ground
which he designated for religious purposes. Above his grave stands a tomb-
stone cut by a man named Wall, in 1822. It contrasts strangely with all the
ruin about it. It is unaffected by the ruins of time, and is one of the best
preserved in the community.

The first church building was a log structure thirty by forty feet, erected
jointly by this and the United Brethren congregations. This building served
until 1830; it was then torn down, and the two societies then erected a thirty
by fifty feet brick building facing Main street. The logs of the old building
were sold to the Presbyterian people, who used them in the construction of their
first building on the present site of the Church of God. Their present church
was built in 1871, and first used in Februar}', 1872, making the third church
home used by these people the past century.

The United Brethren congregation was first established there in 1803. For
many years they preached in barns, private homes, schoolhouses, notably Ben-
nett's schoolhouse. After selling their interest in the Associate Reformed
Church, they built a house of their own in 1854 on Main street, and enlarged
and improved it a great deal in 1874. It was here, in 1815, that the first General
Conference of this church convened and formed the Confessioai of Faith and
Discipline. Many conferences have been held at Mt. Pleasant. As we have
said, this congregation used the lo.g building above referred to, in connection
with United Presbyterian congregation. It had an aisle in the center, and was
heated by stoves. The benches were without backs, and were made of slabs,
commonly called peg seats. The pulpit was made of rough boards. The brick
building which followed this in 1830 was used till 1853, when it was sold at
auction to the Reformed Church for seven hundred dollars. In 1854 the
United Brethren congregation erected a house of their own. It was a brick
structure, and with the addition of a tower built in 1874 is yet standing. In
1890 a clock costing one thousand dollars was placed in the tower. They
erected a oarsonage in 1878.

512

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

In 1870 the Church of God purchased the Old Presbyterian Church, which
they soon after removed and built in its stead a frame house costing- $3,700,
known as Mission Chapel. It was dedicated in March, 1872. The pastors of
this church have been Revs. W. B. Long, in 1873 ; Peter Loucks, from 1873 to
1878; J. S. ^larple, from 1879 to 1882. J. W. Davis, John Hickernel, J. S.
Marple, C. H. Grove, Thomas Woods, C. H. Grove, S. G. Yahn, R. L. Byrnes,
S. G. Yahn, have served the congregation since then.

On March 27, 1891, the frame church was destroyed by fire, supposed to
have originated from an overpressure of natural gas. Their present church
was dedicated May i, 1892, and was built at a cost of nine thousand dollars.

In addition to the churches above named there are three Roman Catholic
organizations, Irish, Slavish and Polish. The Free Methodists and the African
Methodist Episcopalians have also organizations at this place.

Mt. Pleasant has twenty-four schools and 956 pupils enrolled.

The first Methodist society in Mt. Pleasant was organized in 1816 by Rev.
Jacob Dowell, who then had charge of the Connellsville circuit. For about
sixteen years the IMethodists worshipped in private houses, mostly in an old log
house that stood on Church street, and in a brick house which succeeded it.
The first building owned by the Methodist Episcopal Church was built in 1832
on a lot on East Main street. They occupied this for twenty-four years, and
built a more substantial house in 1856, which was remodeled in 1892 and a pipe
organ added. The congregation of Mt. Pleasant was attached to other con-
gregations in the neighborhood, after the custom of early Methodism, for fifty-
seven years, but in 1873 became a separate charge, with Rev. Dr. Samuel
Wakefield as its pastor. The custom adopted by the church as to its pastors
makes it impossible in the limited space allotted us to give them.

The Presbyterian congregation is the oldest one in Mt. Pleasant, dating
back to 1774, at which time, as we have said, their place of worship was at Mid-
dle Church, two miles northwest of the present town. The first preaching place
of the Presbyterians in the village was established by Rev. Patterson, while he
was pastor of the Middle Church in 1825. Both he and his successors served
both the. Middle Church and the congregation in Mt. Pleasant, the latter re-
ceiving one evening sermon every alternate Sunday. In 1870, however, the
corner stone of the Presbyterian Church in Mt. Pleasant was laid, and on Sep-
tember 1st, 1872, the present church building, costing about $21,000, was
dedicated. It is known now as the Reunion Presbyterian Church, and has a
membership of two hundred and twenty-five. The list of pastors since it was
separated from the Middle Church is: Revs. McMillen, Finney, Jenkins, El-
liott, and D. J\I. Lyle. the present pastor. In 1904 a large pipe organ was
placed in the church.

The Evangelical Lutheran Church was established in 1869, with Rev. Enoch
Smith, twenty members, and with Rev. Dr. Estep as pastor. Immediately suc-
ceeding Rev. Estep came William Shadrack. The successive pastors after Rev.
Shadrack were James Estep, Rev. Rockefeller, Isaac Wynn, Simon Sigfried,

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 513

jMilton Sutton, John Parker, W. A. Caldwell, T. R. Taylor, \\'. \V. Hickman,
B. F. W'oodburn, G. A. Ames, Leroy Stephens. They built their first house of
worship in 1830, and a new one on Alain street in 1868, which is still in use by
them.

The first congregaticn of the German Reformed Church was organized in
College Chapel, in March of 1864, with Rev. J. A. Peters as pastor. He was
succeeded in 1869 by Rev. J. H. Heller, who in 1872 gave place to Rev. D. B.
Lady. From 1864 until 1871 the congregation worshipped in College Chapel;
from 1871 to 1872 in the Bunker Hill schoolhouse ; and in 1872 they built a'
church building on East Alain street, which served until a few years ago, when
a better structure was erected. In 1884 they built a substantial church on Main
street.

The \\'estern Pennsylvania Classical and Scientific Institute was founded
in 1849 by the United Brethren, under the corporate name of Westmoreland
College, who erected a brick building suitable tc their purposes. The school
prospered reasonably well for some years, when it passed into the hands of the
Reformed Church, by whom it was conducted under its original charter. It
then became a Presbyterian school. In 1871 the Baptist denomination secured
an act incorporating a school at Mt. Pleasant under the name given above.
They then purchased the buildings and grounds of the Westmoreland College
for $10,000. They erected a new building and opened it for students in 1873.
Its first president was Rev. A. K. Bell, D. D., who was succeeded in 1879 by
Rev. Leroy Stephens. The buildings have a very beautiful surrounding of
forest trees overlooking the town and country, and in full view of Chestnut
Ridge.

The First National Bank of Mt. Pleasant was organized in 1864, the first
in Westmoreland county to take advantage of the benefits of the act creating
national banks. The other banks doing business at Mt. Pleasant are the
Farmers' and Merchants' National Bank ; the Citizens" National Bank, and the
Exchange Bank. The last named is a private coaicern organized in 1901, with
Julius Richman at its head.

Brice Bros. Co., manufacturers of glass at Mt. Pleasant, established their
business in 1896 with but one furnace, and in 1898 added another. They make
light blown tumblers, and a variety of tableware, and barroom goods. They
occupy a large brick building, and employ six hundred persons. The plant now
covers three and one-half acres, and is easily the leading industry of the place.
It was incorporated in 1896, with A. H. Brice as president. The Mt. Pleasant
Tool Company was incorporated in 1904. They are extensive manufacturers
of all kinds of steel shovels. The Pittsburg Brewing Company operate a
brewery at this point, which was originally started by Alvah Cochran and
others. There is also a small distillery in operation. There are two flouring
mills of a good capacity. The only newspaper in Mt. Pleasant is the Journal,
a weekly paper. Natural gas is almost universally in use in Alt. Pleasant. It
is supplied by the Fayette Fuel and Gas Company.

514

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

Mount Pleasant Memorial Hospital was opened to the public on January i,
1904. It is a fine modern equipped institution, under the present management
of Jessie M. Durston. At the death of an old resident of the place, Jacob Jus-
tice, it was found that his will provided for a fund to maintain a free dispensary
in Mt. Pleasant, and from this grew up the hospital idea. Home donaticns and
an appropriation from the state of Pennsylvania made it possible to buy their
fine building. Those without means to pay for treatment are served before
others are admitted, this being the condition on the part of the state in making
the appropriation.

CHAPTER XXXVIII

North Huntingdon Township. — Irwin Borough.

North Huntingdon was not onl}- an original township, organized April 6,
1773, but it was the parent township of both the others bearing the same name,
with the prefixes East and South. It is situated on the main line of the Penn-
sylvania railroad, and has stations at Manor, Irwin, Larimer, Carpenter and at
Trafford City. The principal stream of water is Brush Creek, which flows
through the township, a stream famous in our earlier history. It was larger
formerly than now, and the first mills in the western part of cur county were
built on its banks. The entire eastern portion of North Huntingdon township
contains an abundance of bituminous coal, which has been the chief industry of
the township for the last thirty or forty years. This coal is a part of the fa-
mous Pittsburgh seam. The principal town in the township is the borough of
Irwin. Smaller places in addition to those named above are Jacksonville, Cir-
cleville, Stewartsville and Robbins' Station.

Up until 1852, when the Pennsylvania railroad was built, the chief industry
was agriculture. Since then it has been one cf the leading townships in the
county in the production of coal. The first settlement in North Huntingdon
township was made shortly after Pontiac's war. Ainong the early settlers were
the ]\Iarchands, Studebakers, Whiteheads, Saams, Sowashes, Harrolds, Millers,
Kunkles, Laritners, etc. They were mostly of German extraction.

Colonel John Irwin and his brother James were among the earliest settlers,
and the progenitors of the well-known Irwin family, one of whom in after years
founded the town of Irwin. Colonel John Irwin was associate judge of West-
moreland county in an early day. Upon his arrival in Westmoreland county he
traded with the Indians, and later took up a large tract of land, including that
on which the borough of Irwin now stands.

Shortly after the Irwins there came a large number of Scotch-Irish Presby-
erians who settled along Brush Creek, and to the north of that stream.
Among these were the McCormicks, Osbornes, Boyds, Sloans, CouUers, Sw-
ings, Greens, Wilsons, Larimers, Hindmans, Marshalls, Simpsons, Dufifs,

5i6

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

Corrys, Grays, Temples, and others. ]\Iany of these did not come until after
the close of the Revolutionary war, but all of them were there prior to 1796.

Mathias Cowan is entitled to the honor of being the first settler of the town-
ship. He was married to a Miss Gray, and came to Westmoreland county in a
covered cart, in which thc_\- lived until he had built his log cabin in the wilder-
ness. Not long after their arrival his brother-in-law, Abner Gray, was captured
by the Indians and taken into captivity. Thomas Marshall, very early in the
history of the township, located on lands that were afterwards owned by Col-
onel McFarland. There were two blockhouses in the township. One was on the
farm lately owned by John Gaut, and the other on land owned by Britnel Rob-
bins, who was an ancestor of Joseph Robbins, its present owner.

The Long Run Presbyterian Church was organized under the supervision
of the Red Stone Presbytery, abcait 1790. Its present edifice is of brick, and
was built in 1865. Near by is the graveyard, and these are a few of the names,
with the dates of birth and death, which may be deciphered from the mossy
headstones: Catherine Grego,ry, died December 18, 1833, aged 92. George
Miller, died November 11, 1843, aged 86. Sarah Marchand Scull, died June
8, 1845, born March i, 1819. John Scull, died February 8, 1828, aged 63.
Robert Taylor, died August 6, 1824, aged 84. John McCurdy, died May 12,
1825, aged 54. James Cowan, died October 11, 1826, aged 54. Mathew
Cowan died December 25, 1819, aged 84. William Larimer died September 18,
1838, aged 67. His wife Martha died January 13, 1798, aged 27. Anne Lari-
mer, second wife of William Larimer, born May 8, 1783, died August 23, 1853.
James Cavett, born June 7, 1778, died February 22, 1872, aged 94 years. Jacob
Cort, died October 13, 1853, aged 47. Catharine Hufnagle, died February 21,
1843, aged 80. George Kennedy, died 1841, aged 70. John Boyd, died May
18, 1840, aged 78. Charles Stewart, died July 2, 1836, aged 62. Robert Mar-
shall, died January 28, 1829, aged 63. Daniel Wattirs, died July 8. 1838,
aged 51. Rev. Christopher Hodgson, born September 12, 181 1, died March
25, 1874. William Caldwell, Sr., died December 7, 1872, aged 79. John
Cooper, died 1820, aged 84. Jane Cooper, his wife, died 1793, aged 43. Ben-
jamin Byerly, born May 15, 1791, died January 3, 1864.

Bethel Church, a L'nited Presbyterian organization, was founded in 1796
and 1797, and was the third of its denomination in the county. The first log
edifice was replaced in 1836 by a building which stood until' 1881, when the
present structure was erected. Its first pastor was Matthew Henderson.

The Reformed Church was organized in this township in 1853, a few months
before the town of Irwin was laid out. The Evangelical Lutheran Church of
Irwin was organized in 1874, by Rev. A. H. Bartholomew.

The First Presbyterian Church of Irwin was organized in 1870, by Rever-
ends Carothers and Harbison, with about forty members and four ruling elders.
For long years previous the place had been used as an outpost of Long Run
Church, in the Red Stone Presbytery. As the Presbyterians in that community

I-lISrORV OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 517

increased, the cry for a church nearer home resulted in tlie organization above
referred to.

The Methodist Episcopal congregation was formed in 1859, by Rev. W. P.
Blackburn as first pastor. Originally it was only a circuit appointment, but is
now a station of the Pittsburg Conference, with a large membership.

The United Presbyterian congregation of Irwin was organized October 17,
1874, from a part of Bethel congregation, Bethel being situated about two and
ont-half miles southwest of Irwin. The church edifice was erected in 1868.

The Church of the Immaculate Conception (Roman Catholic) of Irwin is a
substantial brick structure with the priest's residence and frame school building
adjoining. Before its erection Catholic services were held in the schocilhouse
and at private dwellings.

The schools of North Huntingdon township eagerly accepted the free school
system by an almost unanimous vote. At that time it contained six rude
schoolhouses, but now within the same limits are thirty-nine schoolhouses, not
including those in the borough of Irwin.

IRWIX EGROUGH.

Irwin borcoigh is located twenty-two miles east of Pittsburgh, on the Penn-
sylvania railroad, and is situated in the center of the bituminous coal region of
that section. When the railroad was first built, land upon which it now stands
was covered with timber, mainly large white oak. In 1844 there was only one
house there, which was owned by Thcmas Shaw. John Irwin, founder of the
town, laid out the first plan of lots in September, 1853. The building-up of
the town of Irwin has been brought about by the coal industry. Shortly after
the Pennsylvania railroad was built, Thomas A. Scott and William Larimer
began to open up coal mines and ship coal on the railroad to distant markets.
This business they carried on until 1856, when they sold out to the Westmore-
land Coal Company, which had been incorporated in July, 1854. It is now and
has been for almost a half a century one of the largest coal mining companies in
Pennsylvania. Its chief incorporators were General William Larimer, who
was the largest stockholder, Thomas A. Scott and John Covode, all of whom
have since become eminent in our history.

The town of Irwin was incorporated on the 14th of November, 1864. The
principal leaders in the work of incorporation were John McCormick, John Mc-
Williams, Derwin Taylor. H. F. Ludwick, S. C. Remsburg, Abner Cort, J. J.
Hurst, and others. It has steadily increased until it has now (1905) a popula-
tion of 3,400 exclusive of North Irwin, which is built contiguous to it and has
a population of about five iiundred. Its principal industries are the Irwin Iron
Foundry ; the Crescent Brewery, established by home capital in 1903 : a distil-
lery recently built ; a flouring mill, and planing mills ; artificial ice plant, and an
extensive milk-can factory. It has also a newspaper of extensive local circula-

5iJ

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

tion, the Republican-Standard. The banks of the borough are the First Na-
tional, organized in 1892, with $50,000 capital, and the Citizens' National, or-
ganized in 1900 with the same capital. The}- have a fine school building con-
taining fifteen rooms, which cost about $35,000, and was erected in 1890.

The iMethodist Episcopal coJigregaticn built a frame building in 1861, and
in 1880 erected a new building which served them till 1888, at which time the
present structure, costing $18,000, was erected. It has in it a large pipe organ
donated by Mr. Andrew Carnegie. The German Reformed congregation
erected their first church in 1853, and their present building in 1889. The
Lutheran congregation built a church in 1877, which served until 1901, when
they erected a superior pressed-brick building of octagon shape, costing $17,-
000. To this church Mr. Carnegie gave the o,ne-haIf of the cost of a pipe organ
in 1905.

The Roman Catholic congregation erected their first building in 1865, and in
1870 added thereto, at the same time providing for a pastor's residence. Nearby
is a convent building erected in 1876, and in 1902 they erected a fine school
building.

The United Presbyterian congregation built a good frame church which has
since been remodeled. The Primitive Methodist people erected a frame church
in 1890. The Presbyterians are a strong organization in Irwin and have a com-
modious church edifice. The Swedish Lutherans built a church in 1877. and
in 1898 erected their present two-story church. The Welsh Baptists also have
an organization at Irwin, and worship in a frame church.

The farm known as "Brush Hill" was originally patented by Colonel John
Irwin. It lies just outside the borough limits of Irwin. The first house built
by Colonel Irwin was a log structure, which was burned to the ground. He re-
placed it with a frame dwelling, which was struck by lightning and totally de-
stroyed. In the years 1792-93 he caused to be erected the present substantial
stone building, which remains today practically as he left it. In 1882 George
R. Scull remodelled the interior and made a modern house of it, also tearing
down the stone outbuilding, which had been the slaves' quarters, and the con-
necting open passages or piazza, over which the house servants' rooms had
been. Every wall in the house is of stone, and the floor framing is of twelve
inch square solid oak, dressed with the broad-axe by hand. It stands well back
from the old Pittsburgh and Philadelphia pike, in an ample grove. Old Fort
Walthour was quite near Brush Hill, and was frequently a refuge from the
Indian attacks in the old days. It has been considered elsewhere and need not
be more than mentioned here.

The township has thirty-nine schools, with 1401 pupils enrolled.

CHAPTER XXXIX

Rostraver Township. — North Belle Vernon. — !Monessen. — Fairfield Township. — Bolivar
Borough.

Rostraver township was one of the original townships of the county, it Being
erected on April 6, 1773. The first boundary began at the mouth of Jacob's
creek and ran down the Youghiogeny river to where it joins the Mononga-
hela : then by the Moncngahela river to the mouth of Red Stone creek, and then
by a straight line to the place of beginning. Alexander Mitchell and Samuel
Biggard were first elected overseers of the poor of the township, and Eysham
Barnes was elected supervisor.

The first settlers in the township were the Findleys, George Wendell and
his son Peter; Rev. Sanuiel Power: the Fullertons. Pinkertons. Housemaus,
Robertsons, Thompsons, Sheplers, Lowreys, Pattersons, Orrs, McClains, Rob-
insons, Caldwells, Steels, Wilsons, Hutchinsons, IMcClures, and others. The
township is bounded now on the north by Forward and Elizabeth townships,
Allegheny county ; on the south by Washington township, Fayette county ; on
the east by the Youghiogheny river, and on the west by the Mojiongahela river.
The principal stream of water in the township after the rivers named, is Saw
Mill run. The topography of the township is considerably diversified, there
being some high romantic bluffs along the streams, and the country being more
or less level in the interior. In the eastern part o.f the township there is an
abundance of coal and limestone. There are fine flag and building stone near
Webster, on the Monongahela river.

It is supposed that the first real settler in the township was Joseph Hill, who
came from Carroll county, Maryland, in 1754. When he was about eighteen
years old he had made considerable improvement on lands which he occupied
near w'here Braddock's army passed through the township in the following sum-
mer. His lands were near the present Rehoboth church. He was a son of
Joseph Hill, who served six or seven years in the Revolutionary war, and who
afterwards settled in Rostraver township, near his son.

Another early settler was George Wendell and his family, who came from
Hagerstown. ^Maryland, in 1758, and settled in the northeastern part of the
township. The Rehoboth church has been spoken of in the part of this work

520

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

relative to church history. The first two pastors were Reverends James Power
and James Findley. The former was born in 1746, in Chester county. Rev.
Findley w-as born in Ireland, in 1725, and died June 6, 1795, leaving several
children whose descendants are still found as citizens of Rostraver township.

From an old list of taxables made during the Revolution, we have copied the
following: Robert Jamison, Matthew Jamison, Edward Mitchell, George
Shields, William IMcKnight, Henry Westbay, John Hall, Benjamin Brown,
Joseph McClain, John Biggart, John Maxwell, Lewis Pearce, David Findley,
John Stewart John Logan, Matthew Mitchell, Edward Jones, Joseph Pearce,
Jr., Joseph Pearce, Henry McGlaughlin, John Drenan, Jchn Pearce, William
Drenan, James Findly, James Finney, Robert Smith, William Smith, Robert
McConnell, Adam McConnell, John McConnell, Adam McConnell, Sr., William
•jMoore, Philip Howel, Andrew Howel, William Finny, Thomas Morton, Will-
iam Morton, Isaac Greer, Robert Walker.

A school was established near the center of this township some time between
1790 and 1805. It was a subscription school, and supplied the community for
four or five miles in every direction. The teachers were generally incompetent.
The house used as a schoolhouse had a thatch or straw roof and greased paper
windows. In 1805 they built a second schoolhouse, the first one used having
been built for another purpose. The second one had a clapboard roof and glass
windows. Thefirst teacher in it was G. H. Lower, who came from New York,
and was well educated, being able to teach Latin and Greek. While he re-
mained in the township he created considerable interest in education, so that in
18 1 2 two more school houses were built, one in the northern and the other in
the southern part of the township. The latter was deeded by a pioneer named
Samuel Urns, who in his deed says, "It shall be used for school purposes as long
as water runs or grass grows." Among the leading teachers were Lower,
Roberts and Darr. These three schools were carried on in the old style which
lias been described in the chapter on school history, until the common school
system was adopted in 1836. Among the first directors were John Power, E.
Moore and P. H. RHyal. Before the adoption of the common law the num-
ber of school houses had increased to six, and the first year after the adopt-
ion of the common schoo,l law two new ones were built. They had at least one
teacher in the township who was capable of teaching the higher mathematics
and languages; Among the early teachers of Rostraver township of a later
period' was Edgar Cowan, afterwards a LTnited States senator from Pennsyl-
vania.

The Rehoboth Church is indeed one of the pioneer churches of the county,
and its history has been considered in the general church history in this volume.
In the cemetery near by are buried many old settlers. The following are a few
of the inscriptions from their tombstones : Lienor Moore, died January 7,
i8ig, aged 53 years; James Starrett, died July 8, 1829. aged 78; Robert Galo-
way, died June 30, 1818, aged 49 ; Rev. James Finley, born in County Armagh,
1725, died January 6. 1795. He was 46 years in the ministry. John Steel,

HISTORY OF JVESTMORELAND COUNTY.

527

REHOBOTH PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. BUILT 1836.

died January lo, 1856. aged Si : George Crawford, died June 11, 1797. aged 32;
Captain William Elliott, died March 20, 1804, aged 54; Ruth, his wife, died
July 2, 1830, aged 76; William Bigham, died December 12, 1844, aged 74; Col.
John Power, elder of Rehoboth Church, died July 29, 1805, aged 48 ; Margaret,
his wife, died March 10, 1836, aged 80; Dr. Bela B. Smith, died October 17,
1841, aged 79; Elizabeth, his wife, died May 23, 1844, aged 74.

REHOBOTH CHURCH. INTERIOR VIEV

522

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY

The Salem Baptist Church, with its cemeterj-, is located in the northern part
of the township. It was organized in 1792, and is the oldest Baptist organiza-
tion in the county. The first pastor was Rev. Barkley. They built a brick
church in 1842.

Webster is a large town in the township, and is located in the northwest-
ern part, on the Monongahela river. It was founded in 1833, by Benjamin
Beazell and a man named Ford. Shortly before that, in 1830, Daniel Websler
had made his celebrated reply to Robeft Y. Hayne, and so they named this town
after the great statesman of that age. It very soon became a steamboat manu-
facturing town, and it kept this business up pretty constantly for many years.
Later they gave more attention to the mining of coal than anything else.

NORTH BELLE VERNON.

North Belle Vernon is a bcrough, part of which is in Rostraver township,
and part in Fayette county. It was incorporated on February 26, 1876.

The Weddell family originally came from Hagerstown, Maryland, and set-
tled in Rostraver township in 1758. Coming west they followed the road
known then as Braddcck's Trail, until they reached the Youghiogheny river,
which they descended until they came to an old Indian fort, and there they de-
cided to locate land and found a home. They erected a leg --abin, and late in
the fall their father returned to Maryland, leaving his son and another young
man in charge of the cabin and clearing. They were perhaps the only white
settlers west of the Allegheny mcuntains that winter. They had but little food,
depending upon the forest for meat, and on the little corn which they had raised,
and which they ground by pounding it between stones, and baked it into bread
on flat stones. In the spring of 1759 the father, with the remainder of the fam-
il}-, returned to the cabin. He had five sons, two of whom went to Kentucky.
One o,f his descendants became very wealthy in Cleveland, Ohio, and built the
"Weddell House," a well known hostelry of that city.

In 1837 what was long known as the John Gibson's Son & Co. famous
Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania,- Distilleries, were established on the bank
of the Monongahela river, in the extreme southeastern portion of the county,
near the borough of Belle Vernon, a part of which is within Fayette, and the
remainder in Westmoreland county. They located the distillery there in
1837 because it was a rich rye producing section, and the Monongahela Valley
had, moreover, been renowned for its whisky, even before the Whisky Insur-
rection. Their best method of transportation then was by wagons, and by
flatboat navigation on the Monongahela river. They now have splendid ship-
ping facilities both by rail and by water. In 1883 the name was changed to
Moore & Sinnott, and so continued until the death of Mr. Moore; in 1898, when
Joseph F. Sinnott became sole proprietor. The general manager of this dis-
tillery is T. L. Daly. Beginning on a small scale in 1837, Gibson's Son & Co.
completed their extensive wcrks at this point in 1857. In the autumn of 1881

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 523

the distillery and, one large warehouse were totally destroyed by fire, but rebuilt
in 1882. It is now the largest single distillery plant in Pennsylvania. Nothing
but pure ^Michigan rye is used from which to produce their celebrated whisky.
They now have fourteen bonded and free warehouses. In 1904 they produced
16,000 barrels of whisky. From February i, 1904, to January 31, 1905, the
United States Internal Revenue Department collected from this distillery (at
$1.10 per gallon) $555,420.48. From February i, 1903. to January 31, 1904,
the revenue paid the government was $572,229.57. One thousand two hundred
and fifty bushels of rye are used daily in this plant.

MONESSEN.

Of the towns and cities that were built the past forty years upon the banks
of the ]\lonongahela river, and there are many of them, the borough of Alones-
sen is above all the most remarkable, both for its industrial activity and phe-
nomenal growth — a real beehive of industry. Situated on the right bank
of the river, its numerous manufactories line the shore for more than a mile.
The residence part of the borough, which has now a population of ten thous-
and people, is built on three high ridges, with their intervening valleys.

In 1897 the East Side Land Company of Pittsburgh laid out the plot on
which this sprightly city stands. Surrounded by every natural advantage —
coal in great abundance from the neighboring mines, natural gas and an in-
exhaustible supply of pure water — capital flowed in at once. The principal
streets are well paved with Belgian block and vitrified brick. There is a
complete system of modern waterworks, gas, electric light and sewerage.

The banking business is in the hands of three safely managed institu-
tions, the oldest bank being the First National, opened February 17, 1900,
with a $50,000 capital ; S. M. Graham is its president. The People's National
Bank was established November 14, 1901, with $50,000 capital; J. Irons is
its president. The ^Nlonessen Savings and Trust Company, incorporated No-
vember I. 1901, with $125,000 capital, commenced business April i, 1902;
E. F. Eggers is president. The private banking house of Roeb, Roth & Com-
pany transacts a large business, including its foreign exchange department.

The postoffice at ]Monessen does a large business, and handles more mail
than many cities twice its size. The first postmaster was Colonel C. M. Der-
ickson. The present incumbent is E. M. Frye. The oflice obtained free de-
livery service in July, 1904. The newspapers of the place are the following:
The pioneer journal is the Monesscn Nczvs (Republican), established by
Charles E. Federman, 1899. He was succeeded in 1902 by C. L. Schuck.
This paper is now a semi-weekly. The Monessen Leader was founded in
1902 by John H. Threscher, and is now owned principally by the editor, H. R.
Pore. The Daily Independent was established in 1903 by F. Householder.

The religious element is strong in Monessen and is represented as fol-
lows : Christ's Evangelical Lutheran Church was organized bv Rev. C. J.

524 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

\\'altner, April 15, 1900. A good edifice was dedicated ]\Iay 5, 1901. The
Sumoi (Finnish) EvangeHcal Lutheran Church was dedicated June 15, 1902.
The Christian Church, a frame building, was dedicated in 1902. A Greek
Catholic Church, costing many thousand dollars, stands as a monument to
this denomination, on the heights overlooking the beautiful valley. The
Roman Catholic Church has a very large basement, built of stone "and tem-
porarily covered with iron roofing, in which the congregation worship. Plans
are being made to build a fine superstructure the coming year. The Meth-
odist Episcopal people built a church in 1900, and remodeled it in 1905. This
is a substantial frame structure. An English-German Evangelical Lutheran
Church was dedicated May 5, J901. The Presbyterian Church was dedicated
June 20, 1901. The United Brethren building was dedicated August 11,
1901. The United Presbyterian people still worship in a private building
over the Neii'S ofifice. The other religious organizations are the African
Methodist Episcopal,, the Protestant Episcopal, the Baptist, and the Swedish
Lutheran.

Much attention is paid to the public schools of the place. Four attractive
school buildings accommodate the pupils enrolled.

Monessen is supported almost exclusively by the large pay roll coming as
a result of her numerous and very extensive manufacturing plants.

The Monessen Tin Plate Works of the Steel Corporation is one of the
largest and most thoroughly equipped tin plate plants in the world. It was
established in 1897 by putting in operation an eight-mill establishment. The
concern was soon absorbed by the American Tin Plate Company, one of the
foremost constituent companies in America. It is now fully three times its
original size, and has twenty-five hot mills, forty-five tin-sets, and an annual .
capacity of 1,350,000 boxes of tin-plate. In the plant 1,400 workmen find
steady employment. Over 1,200 tons of sheet bars are required each week.

The American Steel Hoop Company's works cover an area of fourteen
acres. It is a three-mill plant in which 500 men are constantlv employed.
They handle about twenty tons of steel billets worked into skelp, hinge stock,
barrel hoops and cotton ties, each working day. There are two continuous
furnaces, and the fuel employed is natural gas. This factory never shuts
down, but works day and night shifts, and was founded March, 1898.

The Page Woven Wire Fence Company consists of open-hearth fur-
naces, blooming, billet, rod and wire mills, fence weaving and machine shop
departments. Seven hundred men are constantly employed. The daily ca-
pacity is twenty tons of rods and one hundred and fifty tons of high carbon
wire, used for the making of the world-famous electric weld "Page Woven
Fence." This brand of woven fencing is used by 700,000 farmers and stock-
men, and foreign countries purchase large quantities of it. J. \\'allace Page
is tile president of the company.

The Monessen Foundry and Machine Company was established in 1900.

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 525

Thev produce iron and brass castings weighing from one-fourth of a pound
to twenty tons each. The daily capacity is forty tons, and 125 men are em-
ployed regularly in these works.

The Pittsburgh Steel ^\'orks is another extensive producing plant of the
borough. At first the shops occupied twenty-four acres in the center of a
ninety-six-acre tract of land, but they are now very much more extensive.
Several buildings are 200 bv 1,200 feet, and the wire rod mills of this plant
produce annual! v 125,000 tons of iron rods. The one hundred and seventy-
five wire nail machines have a capacity of 1,300,000 kegs of nails per year.
In their wire fence department above there are in daily use fifteen electric
welding machines and sixty barbing mills producing the celebrated "Pitts-
burg Perfect Barbed Wire." It operates its own gas plant, giving both light
and fuel to the entire works. Air. George Nash is the general manager.

The railroads passing through Alonessen are the Pittsburgh & Lake Erie
(steam) and the Pittsburgh Electric, both finely equipped steel highways.
They have also the benefit of slack water navigation on the Monongahela
river all the year except in the extremes of winter. It has twenty schools with
1087 pupils enrolled.

FAIRFIELD TOWNSHIP.

Fairfield township was the name of a division in this county while we
were yet a part of Bedford county. When Westmoreland was organized
Fairfield was made one of its townships by a court held at Hannastown, iMarch
•5, 1773- It then embraced the greater part of Ligonier \'alley, and had within
its limits Fort Li,gonier. Out of its original limits have been taken most
of the township of Ligonier and the whole of the township of St. Clair. It
is situated in the northern part of Ligonier \'alley, and is bounded on the
east by Laurel Hill, on the west by Chestnut Ridge, on the north by the
Conemaugh river and St. Clair township, and on the south by Ligonier town-
ship. On either side of the township, as you pass north toward the Cone-
maugh river, the land is hilly; and next to the mountain it is rather poor and
rocky, but in the central part of the valley there are some fine streams and
fertile farms, and a large part of it is underlaid with the Pittsburgh seam of
coal. The better part of the land is well adapted to farming, and that has
been the occupation of its inhabitants since its first settlement. There is only
one incorporated borough within its limits, that of Bolivar. Some of its vil-
lages are : Lockport, on the Pennsylvania railroad ; West Fairfield, in the
central part of the township, and Covodeville, a much smaller place near by.

One of the first school teachers in the township was William Luther, known
to the old people as "^Master Luther." He was a man who used the rod un-
sparingly. In that early day they did not have schoolhouses, but the teachers
kept school in vacant houses or lofts, or other small rooms which might be
used for that purpose. There was bi't one regular schoolhouse in the town-

526 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

ship when the common school law went into operation. It was built in 1820,
and was thereafter used exclusively for school purposes. Notwithstanding
this they voted to adopt a school law in 1835 almost unanimously. Shortly
after that they had seven schools in the township, but this included St. Clair
township as well, for it was not stricken from Fairfield until 1856.

Fort Palmer was a very important Revolutionary fort located in the cen-
tral jiart of the township. The date of its construction can only be approx-
imated. Robert Knox, on March 11, 1771, conveyed the land on which the fort
was built to John Palmer. On January 24, 1776, Palmer conveyed the same
land to Charles Griffin by deed acknowledged before Robert Hanna, judge, etc.
The tract was patented to Griffin on February 10, 1787, and in the patent it
was called "Fort Palmer." The fort was therefore built while Palmer owned
it, between 1771 and 1776, for otherwise it would not have taken his name.
It was a stockade fort and was used during the Revolution and during the
troubles with the Indians in those years. When the second fort was being con-
structed at Fort Ligonier, a journal was kept which refers many times to Fort
Palmer. It is also often mentioned in old letters. In a letter from Colonel
Archibald Lochry, (see Pa. Ach. vol. 5. p. 741 ) it is stated that the settlers are
kept so closely in the fort ( Palmer) that they can gain no subsistence from their
farms. He also reports that eleven others were killed and scalped near the
fort, one of whom was Ensign Woods. The journal notes on October 22,
two children were killed by the Indians w-ithin two hundred yards of the fort.
It was situated on land now owned by Culbertson Ramsey, about seven miles
north of Ligonier.

One of the oldest churches in Ligonier A'alley is the Fairfield Presbv-
terian Church. It dates back at least to October 7, 1786. In April 21, 1787,
there was a joint call for a minister at Donegal and Wheatfield (which is
now in Indiana county) and at Fairfield. Rev. James Hughes was sent to
minister to them. There was no church edifice in the community, but a "tent"
was used in place of a building. As early as 1790 or 1791 the Presbyterians
erected a house of hewed logs. A tall pulpit seven steps high was at one side
of the house. This old church remained standing until 1867. Most of the
seats in an early day were such as the communicants of the church saw fit
to furnish for themselves, many of them made of hewed logs. The church
had no regular pastor until Rev. George Hill was sent there in 1792 as its
first pastor. He was then a young man, having preached but a few months
prior to that, and was ordained November 13, 1792. Rev. Samuel Porter
preached the sermon, and Rev. James Power gave the charge. At the time
he took charge of this church his district was about thirty-five miles long
and about eight or ten miles wide. The Fairfield church received about half
of the pastor's time, the Donegal church about a third of it, and the remainder
was given to the Wheatfield congregation in Indiana county, which was lo-
cated between Nineveh and Armagh. About 1798 Wheatfield was given up,
and was not after that connecteil with the Fairfield congragation. Donegal

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

527

continued to be a part of the charge until 1817. Difficulties arose betweem
them, and Donegal was dropped and annexed to the Ligonier charge. Rev.
Hill was a very remarkable man, both intellectually and physically, but the

\u\\'r- /T)0_5j

severe work which he did and the long rides in cold weather told upon him,
and near the close of his life his constitution became a wreck. He died June
9, 1822.

Rev. Samuel Swan was ordained to succeed him ca June 17, 1824. Mr.
Swan was then in his twenty-fourth year. Amusing stories are told of Mr.
Swan's awkwardness and of his inability to adapt himself to a country life.
He could not saddle a horse, it is said, without getting the saddle on wrong
end foremost, nor could he bridle his horse, but he could preach well, and
worked among his people with untiring energy until 1840. By the upsetting
of a wagon he ,was lamed for life and could not longer make the long rides
which must be necessarily made in serving that charge.

Rev. James Fleming followed him. and was installed June 17, 1843. He
did not succeed well with the congregation, and was released in 1846. He
was followed by Rev. O. H. Miller, who was in turn released in 1848, and
on July 2, 1849, Rev. \^'illiam College was installed as his successor. He
preached at Union, West Fairfield and Fairfield, which at that time consti-
tuted one charge. Mr. College was dismissed April 13, 1852, and in 1853
he was succeeded by Rev. J. W. Walker. Mr. Walker was an amiable gen-
tleman and remained longer with this somewhat capricious congregation than
any other save Rev. Swan. During his pastorate a new church was erected

528' HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

and was dedicated January 17, 1867. Rev. Walker's health forced him to
resign April 28, 1869. He was succeeded by Rev. William Cunningham, who
was installed February 15, 1871. The history of this church is better kept
than almost any other church in the county, and these f^cts were taken from
Rev. Alexander Donaldson's "History of Old Fairfield Presbyterian Church."
The congregation in the past century has produced many young men who en-
tered the ministry and became prominent preachers in other congregations
of the Union. One of the patrons of this church was Daniel Hendricks, who
lived on Hendricks' creek, and who was the uncle of Thomas Hendricks, of
Indiana, who was vice-president of the United States from 1885 until his
death.

Rev. Dr. Donaldson has given many personal recollections of the habits
of the early people in this charge, which are very interesting. He says that
it was no uncommon thing that day to see persons walking a distance of nine
or ten miles every Sabbath morning to attend church. The women almost
always walked in their bare feet or in coarse shoes, carrying their finer shoes
in their hands, and when they came near the church they would sit down by
the side of the road and put on their good shoes before coming in full view of
the congregation. Sometimes, he says, "One might see fifty of them all en-
gaged in changing their shoes." "Before 1825," he says, "there was not a
vehicle brought to their church. Between 1825 and 1830 there were two or
three 'Dearborns' and perhaps one carriage, but not more, which came regu-
larly to the Sunday morning service, 'the masses coming on foot.' " "Old
men who were not able to walk, and young men who wished to make a great
display, came sometimes on horseback. There were generally two persons on
one horse, and sometimes three. On communion Sunday the people from the
•extreme ends of the district, and also from Donegal, Ligonier and Armagh,
would come in great crowds. The most prominent figure in these congrega-
tions was Elder Robert Campbell, of Donegal, whose character and interesting
life have been spoken of elsewhere in this volume.

The Union Presbyterian Church of Fairfield was organized June 2, 1841,
with forty-six members.

The Fairfield United Presbyterian Congregation of Ligonier \'alley was
composed of many Presbyterians from Scottdale and North Ireland. They
were people of high integrity of character, and devotedly attached themselves
to the principles of religion very early after they settled in the valley. They
were preached to as early as 1775 by preachers who passed through that sec-
tion, thus helping them to form an organization, which, however, was not
perfected until about 1800. The services conducted by these people were held
in a tent. The word "tent" does not give us a very correct idea, for it was not
made like the modern tent. It was simply a pulpit formed of logs, with a
canvass covering for the minister, and sometimes the covering was made of
clapboards. Xevcrthclcss, it was always called a tent.

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 529

About 1800 the Associate Presbyterian people and the Associate Reformed
Presbyterian people, with a number of families from the Presbyterian church,
united themselves under the name of the Associated Presbyterian Congrega-
tion of Fairfield. Their principles were similar to the- faith of the other
churches, all clinging to the Westminster Confession of Faith, the Longer
and Shorter Catechism, etc. They had some considerable trouble with the
Presbytery as to the singing of hymns. Rev. McLain was challenged by Rev.
Hill, pastor of the neighboring Presbyterian Church, to discuss the psalmody
question, inquiring as to what warrant they had in using only scriptural selec-
tions in singing. Both were great men of their day, and each, in the opinion
of his friends, carried ofif the honors of the contest. Mr. McLain was after-
ward removed from this charge, but lived to preach for many years in Craw-
ford county.

In 1803 Rev. John Cree was appointed to preach to these people in Ligonier
Valley. He was a native of Scotland, and had been well educated before
coming to America. He had preached for a time in New York City and after-
wards at Rockbridge, \'irginia. His time in Ligonier \'alley was equally
divided between Fairfield and Donegal, he living at that time in Donegal (now
Cook) township, about four miles south of Ligonier. He preached in barns,
in private houses, in groves, or any place where the people would meet to hear
him. The place where the church now stands was a convenient spot for him
to hold these meetings, for nearby was a spring of excellent water where the
people could drink during the dinner hour, and there were many large trees
there which afforded good shade in hot weather. It must be remembered that
the services lasted nearly all day. The pastor frequently stood by a tree,
and around him were dragged logs which served as seats for his hearers. This
was, of course, only in the summer or warmer weather. In the winter they
preached in barns or in private houses.

Rev. Cree was a strong preacher, but did not live to serve these people
very long. In April, 1806, he was stricken with apoplexy and died in the
fifty-second year of his age. They were then for some years supplied by
irregular preachers, and in February, 1814, a regular call was made out for
Rev. Joseph Scroggs, who had been preaching to them for some months before.
Mr. Scroggs was an extraordinary man, and some special reference must be
made to his long life and interesting character.

He was born in Cumberland county and reared in part in Washington
county, and from this latter home was sent to Jefferson College, at Cannons-
burg, Pennsylvania, where he was graduated in 1808 at the age of sixteen
years. He began the study of theology under the tutorship of Dr. John Ander-
son, of Beaver county, and remained with him four years, at which time he was
licensed to preach, and began his work in October, 1813. He first went to Ver-
mont, intending to remain there, but shortly afterwards returned to Pennsyl-
vania and accepted the call of the Fairfield and Donegal congregations, and

530

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

was installed at the Fairfield Church, October 14, 181 5, as their regular pastor.
They had then partly built a log church which was nearly finished, but it
"was not large enough to hold the congregation on this day, and the services
■of installation were held outside so that all might witness the impressive cere-
.mony. In May, 1816, Mr. Scroggs was married to j\Iary Hanna, of Wash-
ington, Pennsylvania. They had ten children. ]\Irs. Scroggs died July 29,
1848, and he was again married in January, 1854, to Mrs. Nancy Hogg, of
Canfield, Ohio. He was all his life a student, a man of scholarly attainments,
keen intellect, and had, moreover, a masterly use of the English language.
His ' high moral character placed him above reproach, and his earnest piety
:made him a power in any field he entered or in any cause he cared to advocate.
Long before discussions arose on the question of slavery he began to preach
•against it, and was therefore one of the first abolition preachers in Westmore-
land county. This must not be lightly passed over. He dared to lift up his
voice then in behalf of the slaves when it cost something to do so. He pre-
sented a paper to the Associate Presbyterian Synod in answer to a protest
■against the action taken by that body in opposition to slavery by six of its
•highly respected members, and this paper is claimed even yet by competent
judges to be one of the ablest papers ever read before any ecclesiastical body on
the subject. He was opposed to the union between the Associate and the
Associate Reformed Churches, but when he found the union inevitable he
accepted the situation, and went to work under the new union, which was
completed at Pittsburgh on May 26, 1858. One can scarcely appreciate the
extent of his labors. For more than a half century he preached regularly in
the morning, in the afternoon, and many times in the evening. Between these
services he would often have to ride or drive from ten to fifteen miles, and he
invariably traveled eight -or ten miles before the morning service. In the
early period of his ministry these journeys were made on foot or on horseback,
but as he grew older he rode in a buggy or carriage. Such journeys might be
easy in the summer months, but were extremely difficult and wearing upon
the human constitution in the winter. Nevertheless scarcely ever did he fail
in all that long period to minister to his people.

In September, 1864, the Westmoreland Presbytery met at the Fairfield
Church, especially to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of Dr. Scroggs' pasto-
rate. The exercises were most interesting and profitable. The whole commu-
nity abandoned their regular work and came to attend this great celebration.
Addresses were delivered by Dr. Joseph Cooper, of Philadelphia ; Dr. A. G.
Wallace, Dr. Alexander Donaldson, and a history of the church was read by
Rev. James P. Little, who had been born and reared within the congregation.
Mr. Scroggs had continued his labors as pastor from father to children, and
to their children and grandchildren, even to five generations, and by this time
the infirmities of age were creeping fast upon him. At a meeting of the
Westmoreland Presbytery, held at Turtle Creek, September 2, 1872, he ten-

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 531

dered his resignation, and the Presbytery adopted resolutions expressive of
his long- and useful career. He continued to preach to his people occasionally
during the following winter, and in the early spring attended a meeting of
the Presbytery held at Latrobe, ten miles from his home in Ligonier. One
evening in April he became thoroughly chilled, and was the next day pros-
trated with a severe cold. After lingering a few days he died, on April 21,
1873, in the eighty-first year of his age, the sixtieth of his ministry, fifty-eight
of which had been spent as pastor of the one charge. The congregation erected
a monument to his memory in the United Presbyterian cemetery in Fairfield
township.

As we have seen, there was no churcli building finished when ]\Ir. Scroggs
came there to preach, although it was finished shortly afterwards. The build-
ing, as near as can be determined, was begun in 1807. It stood below the pres-
ent burying ground. Before the erection of this church a small log house,
perhaps about twenty feet square, was used as a study house, a session house
or a schcolhouse, according to the exigencies of the occasion. The fireplace
was at one side, and was built up with stone jambs of mason work. It was
large enough to burn a log ten feet long in it. The windows were made by
cutting out a section of a log, and with sticks reaching from one log to another
window sashes were formed, upon which they pasted paper saturated in grease
to cover the opening and yet admit the light. The grease put on the paper
made it less opaque, and also protected it from the rain and dampness on the
outside. The seats were merely pieces of split logs supported by legs and
without any backs. The desks used by the pupils in school were built next
the wall, and the benches when drawn up to them turned the faces of all the
pupils toward the wall. This gave the schoolmaster easy access to use the
rod upon the backs of all his pupils. Among the books used in this school
were, first of all, the Bible, which was used as a reading book or a text-book
for both young and old. They had then the "United States Spelling Book,"
"Goff's Arithmetic," and the "Shorter Catechism." The first teacher there
was William Luther, and after him came William and Joseph Elder, father
Bud son.

The church building had on one side, three lengths of logs, the middle
section being set a few feet farther out than the other portion of the wall,
leaving a kind of recess on the inside of the building, in which the' pulpit was
placed. They began to hold services there as soon as the first logs were hewn,
using them for seats. All the first churches throughout the valley were with-
out chimneys. To have a fire at all made the place almost unendurable because
of the smoke, and it was quite common to remedy this in some degree by
building a fire outside, where the people might go during recess to get warm.
Long after the building was otherwise finished, a floor, seats and pulpit were
added to it by a carpenter named Groovner. The seats had very high backs,
so high indeed that one could scarcely see any one sitting in front of him. The

332 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

pulpit was very high, and was reached by a high tier of steps. About one-half
as high as the pulpit and a little in front was a secondary pulpit, in which the
clerk was stationed, and from which he led the singing. From all sections of
the country between the Loyalhanna and the Conemaugh river the early pio-
neers gathered here for worship. Very few of them were well enough off to
ai?ord to come in wagons, many came on horseback, with one, two, three
and sometimes, when they were small, four riding on one horse, but the greater
majority came this long distance on foot. They were determined to go to
church, and those who could not ride were perfectly willing to walk. Going
to church afforded them a change from the monotony of their isolated country
homes.

The next church building there was erected in 1849, the building committee
being Tfiomas Smith, David Hutchinson, Andrew Graham, John Pollock and
Colonel John :\IcFarland. Nathaniel McKelvey was the contractor, and
agreed to build the church for $1,200. The brick were made at a kiln nearby.
This building has been repaired and remodeled several times, but is still in a
comparatively good condition. Quite a number of young men have gone out
from it to become ministers in the western states. Among them are the fol-
lowing: Revs. R. H. Pollock, J. P. Lytle, Andrew Graham, Joseph :\IcKelvey,.
Joseph A. Scroggs, James D. Lytle, and others. After the death of ]\Ir.
Scroggs the congregation was ministered to by Rev. William H. Vincent, who
was a man of superior education and ability.

The township has fourteen schools, with four hundred and twenty pupils
enrolled.

BOLIVAR BOROUGH.

At j\Iay sessions of the court in 1863 the town of Bolivar petitioned to-
become an incorporated borough. This petition was filed on IMay 13th. The
final order of court was made on November 25, 1863, incorporating the bor-
ough as prayed for. It is situated on the Pennsylvania railroad. Their first
election was held at the office of David Coulter, on the i6th of December, 1863,
and Edward Coulter was appointed to give notice of the election. The elec-
tions continued to be held at the office of David Coulter until 1870, when the
court changed the place to that of the schoolhouse. Bolivar was a prominent
town in the early days of railroading, and still farther back during the flat-
boat navigation on the river it had seen busy times. The chief industry of
the place is the manufacture of fire-brick from immense deposits of fire-clay
which are along the Conemaugh river. It has four schools with two hundred
and sixteen pupils enrolled.

The village of West Fairfield is situated on the eastern side of the town-
ship, on the road leading from Ligonier to Bolivar, or New Florence. It is
a pretty little village situated on a plateau, and has long since been a sort of
metropolis for the citizens of Fairfield to get their mail, buy small packages-

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY

533

of store goods, have their horses shod, etc. The United Brethren, the Metho-
dists and the Presbyterians have each cliurches there, and there are three well
kept graveyards nearby. It has, moreover, two schools, and in an early day
there was a select school held there each summer, of which the teachers were
of a high grade of scholarship. The pupils came from the district surrounding
the place for several miles in each direction.

RACHELWOOD.
Country Residence in Fairfield Township of Mr. and Mrs. James R. Mellon, of Pittsbureh.

Lockport is another small village on the Pennsylvania railroad, with a
population of about one hundred and fifty. It was named Lockport because
there was a canal lock there in the old canal days. It had formerly a beautiful
cut stone aqueduct which led the canal acrosss the Conemaugh river at this
place. This aqueduct was removed by the Pennsylvania railroad in 1888.

CHAPTER XL

Donegal Township. — Derry Township. — Livermore Borough. — Franklin Township.^
■Nlurryville. — Washington Township.

V Donegal was another of the original townships into which the county was
divided by our court, at its first sitting, at Robert Hanna's, April 6, 1773.
This had always been the name which designated this portion of the country,
even while it was included within the limits of Bedford county. Its original
boundaries were much larger than at present, for it then embraced the greater
portion of Ligonier Valley. It was a very important township in the early
historic days, when Fort Ligonier was one of the two all important places here
in southwestern Pennsylvania. The first officers elected were John Cavenot,
(who was probably the- ancestor of the Cavens), as constable; Samuel Shan-
non and Edward McDowell as overseers of the poor; and George Glenn as
supervisor.

Fayette county was taken from Westmoreland shortly after the Revolu-
tionary war, and part of the original township of Donegal lay within its limits.
In 1855 Cook township was stricken from the northern part of Donegal town-
ship. It is, therefore, bounded on the north by Cook township; on the east
by Laurel Hill, that is, by the county line between Somerset and Westmore-
land ; on the south by Fayette county line, and on the west by Chestnut Ridge.
Like all parts of Ligonier Valley, the sides touching the ranges of mountains
on the east and west are rocky and abrupt, and of little value for agricultural
purposes. Along the center and about the bottom of streams the surface is
more even, and is well adapted to farming, which is the chief pursuit of its
inhabitants. For many years, however, the lumber business has furnished
employment for a great many people, and along with the lumber business, the
peeling of the bark of oak and hemlock trees for use in tanning, has been a
great industry. The principal streams of Donegal township are Indian Creek
and Roaring Run in the southern part, rm:l Four Mile Run in the northwestern
part. The first two streams flow southward into the Youghiogheny, and the
latter flows into the Loyalhanna. The township is underlaid with the Freeport
seam of coal. It has also an abundance of fire-clav, limestone and iron ore.

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 535

In the early days when iron was made by charcoal, there were two furnaces
built within the limits of the township, but these have long since been out of
blast.

Among the old families was the Kistler family, the father, Andrew, coming
from Germany to Maryland, and then moving to Donegal township in 1796.
Other early settlers were Andrew Harman, who was killed by the Indians ;
William R. Hunter, the Millhoffs, Wirsings, Shaeffers, Hayses, Gettemys,
Jones, Blackburns.

The turnpike from Somerset to Alt. Pleasant and West Newton passed
through the township from east to west. On this turnpike was located the
town of Donegal and village of Jones' Mills. Both of them are very small,
and were identified with the wagon days of the old turnpike, which was largely
traveled for many years. This turnpike afforded a wagon and stage route
east from the headwaters of navigation at Elizabeth on the Monongahela, and
at West Newton on the Youghiogheny, across the mountains to Somerset,
and thence to the National Pike at Cumberland, Maryland. The pike, as
we have seen before, was planked, and for a long time was known as the
Plank Road. From this pike there has always been a much traveled highway
leading north from Donegal through Stahlstown to Ligonier. The village of
Donegal has not increased much in the last forty years. It was formerly a
convergent point for the whole southern end of the valley. Here they met on
preliminary parade days, rifle matches, hunting days, and to engage in all
kinds of rural contests and village sports. It was also an important place in
stage-coach days. It is now little less than a country hamlet, though a very
pretty one, and is the smallest borough in Westmoreland county. The petition
for the incorporation was presented to the court in 1867, mainly through the
efforts of the late William R. Hunter, a prominent merchant in Donegal at
that time. The village was incorporated on the 20th of August, 1867, and the
first election was held on the 20th day of September, at the house of Mrs.
Nancy Hays. Jeremiah Wirsing was judge of the election, and Jacob Get-
temy and Ely P. Fry were inspectors. William R. Hunter probably did more
for Donegal borough and this community than any other man of that section.
For many years he was the leading merchant of the place, and took great
interest in its churches and schools and in its general advancement.

Jones ]\lills has been frequented a great deal by travelers in pursuit of all
kinds of rural sports. It has a fine country hotel. The turnpike passed
through the village, which, like Donegal, has seen its best days. It has,
however, one of the best streams of water in the county, which flows directly
from the "Big Springs" on Laurel Hill, a spring whose daily output is large
enough to turn, and did at one time turn, an old-fashioned saw-mill within a
few rods of its source.

It is on the limpid waters of this spring that the Pike Run Country Club
is located. The club owns some two hundred and fiftv acres of well timbered

536

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

land, and has erected a splendid club house on it. It is on the famous turn-
pike, and is about fourteen miles from either ^slt. Pleasant, Ligonier or Som-
erset. The club is patronized largely by Mt. Pleasant people, but has members
in Greensburg and in other sections of the county. It is in Donegal township.
It was founded in 1903, and is for its age a most promising club.

The first religious denomination in Donegal township were the Presbyte-
rians. We are i.r.iable to give the date of their organization. With a later gener-
ation came the Methodists, who probably surpass the Presbyterians in num-
bers. The Baptists and the Dunkards came later, the latter being mostly
families who had moved to Donegal from Somerset county. Among the orig-
inal settlers were manv Germans, who were regularly preached to in the early
days of last century by Rev. Weber, of Greensburg. He established a congre-
gation at Donegal, which really belonged to the Mt. Pleasant charge. They
were ministered to after him by Rev. \\'einel. Rev. A'oight and Rev. A. J.
Heller. The Baptist Church'was organized in Donegal on June 13, 1834, with
Rev. John P. Rockefeller as pastor.

About 1801 the citizens along the banks of Four Mile Run in the northern
part of Donegal township erected a school house on the farm lately belonging
to David Fiscus, and James Wilson was its first teacher. It was the first
school house of which we have any knowledge in the southern part of the
valley. It was followed, of course, by others. The school houses were 'almost
invariably built of unhewn logs, and the spaces between them were filled with
clay. They had puncheon floors generally, but not always, for sometimes the
floors were made of clay. They had clapboard roofs and a large fireplace
which extended almost along the entire building. The teachers were men of
limited education. If they could read, write and cipher as far as the single rule
of three, and were muscularly strong enough to whip the boys, they could find
employment and were regarded as good teachers. Among the early teachers
were James Wilson, Charles Johnston, James Alexander, James Henry and
others. In Donegal they built two school houses of a substantial nature in
1818. Hays' School was built in 1820; Stahlstown in 1821, and Union School
was built in 1828 or 1829. This last school was built by members of the
jNIethodist Episcopal Church, and was used during the week in the winter
time, for a school house, and all the year around on Sunday for church,
purposes.

Stahlstown is rather a thriving village, eight miles south of Ligonier, on the
main road leading from Ligonier to Donegal. It is not incorporated but is
a very pretty and cleanly kept village.

When the common school system went into operation in 1834 the citizens
of Donegal township were greatly opposed to it. The first directors were
Peter Kistler, James W. Jones, William Campbell and Hugh Caven. who were
bitterly opposed to the system, and Thomas Richards and Peter Gay, who
were favorable to it. The majoritv of the board of directors being opposed to

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 537

it, the operation of tiie law was crippled from the beginning. Its opponents
finally yielded and laid the township off into subdistricts, levied school taxes,
etc. In 1838 another vote was taken in Donegal township on the school system,
and it was carried in favor of the system by a small majority. Among the
leading directors from the years 1834 to 1850 were David Bell, Thomas John-
ston, Simon Snyder and William Fetter, while the leading supporters of the
school system were John Caven, William R. Hunter, John Weimer, John
Johnston and others. The Bible was the principal text-book. The examination
of teachers as to their qualifications to. teach was very superficial. The
writer's informant has told him that in 1845 the committee appointed to
examine a teacher heard him read and gave him one example in simple interest,
which he solved correctly and so was allowed to teach. A great deal of
progress has been made in education and church work in the last fifty years,
so that the township and the borough of Donegal take rank with any rural
ccmniunitv in our countv in this direction. The 'township has eleven schools'
with three hundred and fifty-five pupils enrolled.

DERRY TOWNSHIP.

One of the largest and most important townships in the county is the town-
ship of Derry. It was established and organized by the court of quarter ses-
sions at April term of court, held in Hannastown in I775- It was, moreover,
the first township erected after the original ones erected when the county was
formed. The original boundaries began at the Loyalhanna and ran thence
along the Fairfield line to Blacklick Creek, thence to the Conemaugh River
and down the river to the Kiskiminetas : and thence by the Loyalhanna to the
place of beginning. It was therefore much larger originally than at the
present time. It was cut down by the formation of Indiana county ; and by
the formation of Loyalhanna township on the Westmoreland side. The
township is now bounded on the north by the Conemaugh River, which sepa-
rates Westmoreland from Indiana county ; on the east by the townships of
Fairfield and Ligonier, the dividing line being the crest of Chestnut Ridge ;
on the south by the townships of L'nity and Salem, the natural boundary line
being Loyalhanna Creek ; and on the northwest by the township of Loyalhanna.
The boroughs within the limits of the township are: Latrobe, New Alexan-
dria, Livermore, Derry and Cokeville.

The first settlement made in Derry township was almost as early as the
earliest in the county. Some of the soldiers who came west with Forbes'
army settled there as early as 1762, and were there as pioneers and citizens
when Pontiac's war came in 1763. Among the verv first, if not the first set-
tlers, was John Pomroy. He had been a farmer in the Cumberland valley,
and was of Scotch-Irish descent. He had heard of the large quantity of land
in this section from the soldiers that had retiirned with Forbes' army, and he
made up his mind to leave the rich Cumberland valley and come and locate

538 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

west of the Alleghany mountains. He came west on the Forbes road and
stopped at Fort Ligonier, where he had relatives living, and who were com-
pelled to live under the shadow of the garrison because of the Indians. He
did not remain in the valley, but crossed the Chestnut Ridge, selected a piece
of land, and took possession of it. Upon it he built a rude log cabin. Not
long after that another white man came to visit him and located on a tract of
land nearbv. His name was James Wilson. Both names are familiar to all
who are conversant with our pioneer history. These two tracts of land were
near the present site of New Derry. They assisted each other in improving
them, and Pomroy assisted Wilson in building his cabin, which was about a
mile from Pomroy's. During the first summer, which was probably the sum-
mer of 1762, thev raised some corn and potatoes and cleared small pieces of
ground upon which they sowed wheat and rye. They had brought the seed
from the garrison of Fort Ligonier, it being one of the provisions of the Eng-
lish government while it held dominion in western Pennsylvania, that seeds
of all kinds must be furnished to the settlers. This has been treated of in
former chapters. Late in the fall they killed some game and stored it away
that they might get it in the spring, and then they set out for a trip east of
the mountains, where their friends lived. Thev passed the winter in the east,
and when spring came they met by previous arrangement and started for their
new homes west of the Alleghany mountains, then known only as the extreme
frontier of Cumberland county, for it was many years before the formation of
Bedford county. On this second trip they were accompanied by an Irishman
named Dunlap. who came for the purpose of buying skins and furs from the
Indians. He had heard great stories about the love oi the Indians for knives,
beads and trinkets, and came well supplied with these, as well as with a
stock of rum, all of which he brought west en horseback. The pioneers found
their cabins undisturbed, though there were signs that the Indians had visited
them. Word was soon sent abroad amo«g the Indians, and a great many of
them made their appearance at Pomro}'s camp laden with furs and peltry of
all kinds. The bartering went on very rapidly, for the anxiety cf the Indians
to obtain trinkets, brooches, knives, etc., that Dunlap had brought made them
offer almost any valuable fur they had for them. Finally the rum was brought
out, and this pleased the Indians still more. They had formerly learned the
effects of this drink upon their race, and had established a system, which they
exercised here: that is, before givingf themselves entirely to its effects, they
selected one of their number who should drink nothing, that he might watch the '
interests of the rest. All the skins which they had, which included the entire
work of the winter before, were soon traded to Dunlap for trinkets and for a
few canteens of rum. The latter was greatly relished bv the Indians, who
became very dangerous in the night. As the Indians drank more, Dunlap
weakened the rum with water that its effects might be less upon the Indians'
mmd, for he feared these hostile men when they drank too much. Dunlap

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. .539

refused ever to go into the business again. Poniroy and \\'ilson escorted him
part of the way home, that is to Ligonier, where he fell in with some others
returning east from Fort Pitt. Then the two pioneers returned to their clear-
ings and devoted themselves, like honest men, to the clearing away of the
forest, and the breaking up of the soil. The second winter they again visited
their old homes in the east, and when they came back each brought with him
a wife. Pomroy's wife was Isabel Barr, the daughter of a neighbor in Cum-
berland valley, who himself subsequently migrated to Derry township. With
him came his two sons, James and Alexander Barr, also William Guthrie and
Richard ^^^allace, and others whose names are lost to us. These two women
were the first to locate in western Pennsylvania. It is said that they often
went out with the men when they were surveying land, being afraid to remain
at home because of the treacherous Indians who were scouting around.

George Findley very early settled in this same community, being a near
neighbor of Pomroy's and Wilson's. Both were there before the treaty of
1768, and therefore had no legal right to the land upon which they lived. About
1776 Findley brought his wife out from Hagerstown, Maryland, and they lived
in a cabin which he had previously erected. They had to repeatedly seek shel-
ter in Fort Palmer, in Fairfield township, and in Fort Ligonier.

Samuel Craig was another settler of Derry township. He removed from
Xew Jersey to Westmoreland county about 1770, and purchased a large farm
on the Loyalhanna, where the Crabtree run flows into it. He entered the
Revolutionary war and was with Washington in a number of campaigns. His
three sons, John, Alexander and Samuel, were also soldiers in the Revolution.
After the father returned from the war he took an active part in the defense of
the frontiers from the Indians, and filled several military offices among the
Home Guards. The duties of one of these offices called him to Fort Ligonier,
a place he had frequently visited. He started out one morning and was never
heard of again. His horse was found on Chestnut Ridge, between his home
and the fort, with eight bullet holes in it, but all efforts cf the family to obtain
any information about Captain Craig were fruitless. The Craig boys were ac-
tive soldiers in the Revolutionary war. Alexander at one time had a lock of
hair shot off his head by a bullet from the enemy. In 1793 he was commis-
sioned a colonel in the militia, and was a brigadier in 1807 and again in 181 1.
He was, however, better known as Captain Craig, and with the Shields,
Sloans, Wilsons and Wallaces, formed a strong band of fighting men who in
an early day defended the settlers of Derry township from the meandering
Indians. He is buried in Congruity churchyard, about eight miles north of
Greensburg. His brother John afterwards moved to a farm near Freeport,
and earned the high respect of his neighbors in that community. He lived
to be ninety-five years old.

Fort Barr and Fort Wallace were two early forts in Derry township. They
were used in Dunmore's war, but were built some years before that to protect^
the citizens against the Indians. Some claim that they were erected as early as

540 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

1764 or 1765, but there was no settlement in Derry township at that time
sufficiently strong to warrant the building of a fort. There were but few
forts built in the county prior to 1770. Fort Barr was located on the farm of
one of the Barrs, and was abcait a mile north of New Derry. By some it was
called Fort Gilson. Fort Wallace was about five miles distant, and was erected
on a farm belonging to a man named Wallace, on McGee's run. Craig's Fort
on the Loyalhanna, near New Alexandria, came later, as did the fort cai the
John Shields place, within four miles of Hannastown. Both of these forts
were erected about 1774, as a protection against the Indians and against ma-
rauding armies in Dunmore's war.

All these, while called forts, were in reality only blockhouses, and have
been sufficiently described in previous chapters. There was a signal which
was agreed upon among the settlers, that when three rifle shots were fired in
quick succession the men must flee to the blockhouses or forts. Colonel James
Wilson used to relate that he stood rifle in hand watching for ambushing In-
dians while his wife went to the spring for water. Richard Wallace was taken
a prisoner by the Indians and was taken to various points in western Penn-
sylvania and Ohio. He was finally sent to Montreal, where he was exchanged
and came home after an absence of eighteen months. The last hostile demon-
stration about Fort Wallace was after the Revolutionary war, in 1783. At
that time a half-breed, who had been in the British service, approached the fort
with a flag which he used as a decoy. But the settlers had been frequently de-
ceived in this manner, and they made short work of him by shooting him
before he reached the fort. He was buried where he fell. It was Richard
Wallace, who after he had put his farm in fine order, erected a mill with one
set of stones. Before this the grain raised bv the settlers was poifhded in
mortars with stones.

James Wilson was one of the foremost men in Derry township. His farm
near New Derry contained about eight hundred acres, and is now a very val-
uable piece of land, but in that day he had hard work to procure enough money
from one year's end to another to pay the tax collector. He lived on this
farm until 1820, the year in which he died. In appearance he was a typical
pioneer, over six feet tall, and very straight and active. His remains and those
of his wife and a married daughter, a Mrs. Knott, are buried on the farm near
their home.

Colonel Wallace and James Pomroy remained close friends, and were
only separated by death. Pomroy was never as much of a military leader as
Wallace was, but was a more prominent leader in civil life. He, it will be
remembered, was pne of the five commissioners appointed by the Act of As-
sembly in 1785 to locate a county seat, which appointment resulted in the
selection of Greensburg. When Alexander Allison was on the bench, Pom-
roy was an associate judge and served this countv in that capacity for many
years. He had a brother, Francis Pomroy, who lived near him, and who was
likewise held in high esteem.

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 541

\\llliani Guthrie was another early settler of Derry township. He made
application for three hundred and fifty acres of land when the Land Office was
opened, in 1769, and it has been kept by his descendants almost continually
since. He also took an active part in the border troubles, and was a militia
officer in 1794. His son, James, served in the war of 1812. William Guthrie
built a stone house on his farm in 1799.

Captain John Shields came from Adams county to Westmoreland in 1766.
He was a man of great physical strength, well suited to bear the hardships in-
cident to pioneer life. The land he purchased was near the present town of
Xew Alexandria. He was a captain in the Revolutionary war, and faithfully
performed his duties. ^Ir. Shields was a man of more than ordinary education.
He was also a blacksmith, and had made pinchers and tools with which he
could extract teeth, there being no dentists, and most of the time no physicians
within reach. He could also reduce a fractured leg or arm. He was one of
the five commissioners appointed in 1785 to purchase land in trust for the m-
habitants of the county upon which to erect a court house. He was also a
justice of the peace, and for many years a ruling elder in the Congruity Church,
when Rev. Samuel Porter was pastor. He died November 3, 1821, aged eighty
two years, and was buried in Congruity cemetery.

Other settlers in this township were Thomas Allison, George Trimble,
Alexander Taylor, John Lytle, Daniel Elgin, Conrad Rice, Thomas Wilkins,
Daniel McKisson, James ^Mitchell, Andrew Dixon, John Agey, Thomas
^IcCree, Thomas Burns, William Lowry, John Wilson, Robert Pilson, John
Thompson, Patrick Lydick, James Simpson, Christopher Stutchall, William
Smith, Nathaniel, Jonathan and Zebulon Doty, Joseph Pounds and Alexander
^IcCurdy and others.

Few townships have as many interesting incidents in their history as has
Derry township. It was peculiarly laid open to Indian incursions as they
came down from the north. They were moreover annoyed a great deal because
of wild animals. Bears in great numbers harbored within the limits of the
ridge, and came down from the wilds north of the Conemaugh river. For
many years in the early part o,f last century the farmers had to keep their
hogs enclosed during most of the year, and sheep were continually carried off
by the wolves. At night these animals made hideous sounds as they prowled
around homesteads in search of domestic animals, so that the country was
literally then nothing more than a "howling wilderness." There was no howl
more dismal to an early settler and his family than the howl of a famished
wolf, unless it was the blood-curdling war-cry of the Indian, which was fre-
quently heard by the early inhabitants of Derry township. Other wild animals,
such as panthers, catamounts and foxes, were common in this region, and were
for many years a great impediment to, agriculture.

General Alexander Craig referred to above, was born November 20, 1755.
He was married to Jane Clark, the second daughter of James Clark. The mar-
riage ceremony was performed by the noted pioneer minister. Rev. James

542

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

Po\v(X. The bride was arra_ved in a hcme-grown and home-spun Hnen dress,
bleaclied until it was perfectly white. General Craig was commissioned lieu-
tenant-colonel of militia in 1793, and a brigadier-general in 1807 and again in
181 1. \\'hen the war of 1812 broke out he was greatly excited, and at length
said, "I have but one son, and he is too delicate to perform military duties, but
if I can be of any use, though growing old, I am willing to enlist." The farm
upon which he lived had been purchased in 1773 from Samuel Wallace, a
merchant of Philadelphia, who had purchased it in 1769 from Loveday Allen.
After the trouble with the Indians was o\'er, General Craig often met with
them, for he was a surveyor and did much outside work. He often visited
camps, and displayed such skill in shooting at a mark that they thought there
must be some charm or witchery about his gun. The whites in Derry township,
as elsewhere, were always prejudiced against the Indians, but General Craig
sympathized with them as far as possible, and treated them kindly. He was
for several years agent of Governor Mifflin for lands which he owned in this
section, which was then called the backwoods. He did not have the advantage
of as liberal an education as many of his day, but he had good judgment, was
fond of reading, and had a retentive memory. In his old age therefore his
mind was well stored with useful knowledge. He was about six feet tall, and
very muscular. His death occurred on the 29th of October, 1832, aged sev-
enty-seven years, and he was buried at Congruity cemetery,

Thomas Anderson, another Revolutionary leader, lived with Colonel
Guthrie, the elder, and died in his home in 1827, Michael Churn, Sr., settled
in Derry township in 1782. John ]\IcGuire, a neighbor of Churn's, settled near
him in 1778. Robert Armstrong was another early settler near Salem church,
and at his house were held the first itinerate services of the Methodist church
in that community. Lorenzo Dow, the noted and eloquent preacher, so famous
in the Christian world a century ago, was frequently a guest at his house. Peter
Knight settled near the village of St. Clair, and was one of the ancestors of the
Saxman's and Schall's. Andrew Allison took up land on the banks of the
Loyalhanna between Latrobe and Kingston, near the Kingston House. His
daughter was married to Charles Mitchell. John Sloan was also a near neigh-
bor, and of these in the Indian days we have spoken in another chapter, Thomas
Culbertson settled in an early date north of Latrobe. To him is given the
honor of building the first stone house in that part of the country. William
Hugus was another of the early settlers. His oldest son was said to be the
first male child born in Derry township, but of this we are not certain. James
Cummins settled near the Chestnut Ridge about the close of the Revolutionary
war. Hugh Cannon was one of the first settlers on the land near Derry Sta-
tion. He was a teamster, and brought Hour and salt from the eastern side of
the mountain, and lived until 1818, He had a son Alexander Cannon, who died
in 1842 in the seventy-second year of his age, who often spoke of the hardships
he had endured in the pioneer days.

A great natural curiosity of Derry township is commonly called the "Bear

HISTORY OF irESTMORELAXD COUXTY. 543

Cave." It is a cavern among the rocks on Chestnut Ridge, and is closest to
Hillside Station, on the Pennsylvania railroad. There have been many de-
scriptions of it in newspapers and periodicals. It was first made known
throughout the press in 1840. when it seems to have been thoroughly explored.
In 1842 it was explored by a party of young men and women from Blairsville.
After entering they divided into two parties, one going to the right hand and
the other to the left. They passed over many deep fissures, and could hear
water gurgling far below them, so far below that the light of their torches did
not reveal it. In some places, when passing through the cave, one must crawl
on his hands and knees, and at other times he must stoop slightly, but for the
greater part of the distance the rocks above him are higher than his head.
Writers have said that they have explored as high as forty-nine different rooms
in the cave, all varying in size from eight to thirty or forty feet square. Large
quantities of carbonate of lime are found on every hand. Among the names
chiseled on the rocks is that of Norman IMcLeod. ?\Iany of the chambers are
studded with stalactites, and inhabited by bats. There are many chasms and
long dark halls reaching from one room to another. Rooms have been given
high sounding names b}- the inhabitants and by those who frequently visit
them, such as "Snake Chamber," the "Altar Room," and "Senate Chamber."

The early schools of Derry township were all built of logs, as was the case
throughout other townships, and, as we have said elsewhere, until 1825 there
was not a frame school house within the limits of Derry township nor were
there any in the county. The desks were, as usual, fastened around the wall,
and the seats; called "peg seats," without backs, were the best found in any
school in the township. An early teacher was Tawny Hill. James AlcCallip
taught the McClelland school about 1830. ^^'illiam Cochran taught the first
free school at ]\IcClelland's after the adoption of the free school law. His
teaching was notable because of its religious features. He opened school with
prayer, »had a Bible class twice a day. and read in the New Testament four
times a day. The Shorter Catechism was the leading text-book. His mode of
punishment was to compel the unruly pupils to commit part of the Catechism
or verses of the Bible. He was succeeded by Mr. Wheeler, from one of the
eastern states. It is worthy of mention in this connection that both John W^
Geary, afterwards governor of Pennsylvania, and his father, Edward Geary,
were at one time teachers in Derry township.

The Salem Presbyterian Church made a call for a pastor to the Red Stone
Presbytery in October, 1786, so that the}- must have been formed some time
prior to that date. They were preached to by supplies for four or five years
after 1786. They had no meeting house, but used a tent as a place of worship.
Later they built a log house, put a stove in it, and called it a Session House,
but this was used only in cold weather or on wet days, for they preferred hold-
ing services outside in mild weather. Before the close of last century thev had
built a much larger log church, certainly the largest then in the county. It
was seventy by forty feet in the main, and in the center it was fortv-six feet

C44 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

wide. The recess on the inside was utiHzed for the pulpit. There was a scund-
ing board over the preacher's head, and his platform was about eight steps
above the congregation. There was a door in each end of the old log church,
and there were afterwards seventy-one long seats in it, and six or eight hundred
people could be accommodated in the church at once. For many years there
were no seats at all, and then after a while the communicants began to bring
sawed planks for seats, and sometimes they used a wide rail which with four
pins in it for legs, afforded a comparatively good seat. This church for a
good 'many years did not have a stove in it, and the Session House, which
stood close to it, was used in extremely cold weather for those who got very
cold to warm up in. In 1832 the log church was sealed with boards and plas-
tered on the side walls. In 1848 a boy in kindling the fire put shavings into the
stove, and some of the sparks fell on the old wooden roof, and when the
people assembled for prayer meeting, the time honored house, which they had
cherished so long, and reverenced so deeply because of its early history, was
rapidly being consumed by the flames. In 1790 this church (that is, Salem
Church) with the Unity Church, called Rev. John McPherrin to minister to
them. He was installed on the 20th of September, and preached there for
thirteen years. In 1803 the two churches had some difficulty and he was re-
leased from further services at the Unity Church. From there he went to
Butler county, where he spent the remainder of his life as a minister, dying
there February 10, 1823, in the sixty-fifth year of his age. He was regarded
by most of the Salem Church communicants as one of the ablest preachers
of his day. Rev. Thomas Moore was called to preach there in 1804, but there
is no record of his installation. He was dismissed in 1809, and the congrega-
tion was supplied with various pastors until 1813, when, on April 21st, Robert
Lee was called and installed shortly afterwards. He was a tall slender man,
with a thundering voice, and, it is said, would not allow a child to sleep in
church. He was released by the Salem Church in 1819, and moved t'o Ohio.
Thomas Davis, an Englishman, who had long been an elder in the Second Pres-
byterian Church in Pittsburgh, had been licensed to preach by the Red Stone
Presbytery when over fifty years of age. He was sent to Salem and West
Union as a supply, but they were so pleased with him that they retained him,
and in October, 1822, he was installed as the regular pastor of Salem Church.
He preached to them about nineteen years, although in the meantime he had
been crippled for life by the fall of a limb from a tree, and his labors were at-
tended with great difficulty. He died l\Iay 28. 1848, in the seventy-seventh
year of his age. The old log church was burned down but a short time be-
fore he died. After the burning of the church they held services in a barn be-
longing to John Robinson. Rev. Davis was a plain, earnest and impressive
talker, and with a better preliminary education might have ranked as one of
the great pastors of his day. Rev. George Hill began to preach at Salem and
P.lairsville churches in 1840, following Rev. Davis. From ]\Iarch, 1841, he
preached regularly until his death. After a vacancv Rev. Reuben Lewis was

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

545

installed as pastor in 185 1. He was released in January, 1855, and his suc-
cessor, J. P. FuUerton, installed in 1857. Rev. William F. Hamilton began to
preach there in 1868.

The New Alexandria Presbyterian Church was organized October 4, 1836.
It consisted then of about seventy-one members. Rev. Adam Torrance was
its first pastor, being installed June 13, 1838. The charge has always had a
high standing in Presbyterianism in the county because of the high standing
and character of its members.

The Livermore Presbyterian Church was organized in 185 1, with Rev,
George JNIorton as its pastor. He was released on April i,. 1853. During sev-
eral succeeding years there were few supplies, and they were seldom min-
istered to. In ^lay, 1861, Rev. J. B. Dickey was installed for half of the time.
Rev. Dickey was released in June of 1863, and in October, 1865, Rev. David
Harbison was called and supplied this church for half the time for eighteen
months, after which he moved to New Salem Church. Rev. W. F. Hamilton
was his successor, and divided his time between Livermore and Salem. He
was installed on September 14, 1868. The first house of worship at Livermore
was a frame structure, in which the Baptists had a share. At present it is a
comfortable brick house, which was built in 1862.

As has been seen in the general history of the Roman Catholic Church in
Westmoreland county, in an early day they had a small site in Derry town-
ship. In 1844 Rev. J. J. Stillinger began to minister to the people between
Blairsville and St. Vincent's, at a log church called Mt. Carmel. The church
in Derry was erected in 1856, with Rev. Alto, of St. Vincent's, as pastor, until
186 1, when Rev. T. Kearney, who had the charge at Latrobe, took charge of it
at the same time. The line of public works, the first canal, the railroad, etc.,
running through the township, brought a large number of foreign laborers into
it, a large proportion of whom were Catholics, and the erection of churches
to accommodate them became a necessity. The number of Catholics whci be-
came permanent inhabitants of Derry township increased correspondingly.
Tiiey were supplied regularly from the monastery at St. Vincent's until 1856.

The township of Derry has fifty-one schools, with 2,192 pupils enrolled.

LIVERirORE BOROUGH.

Livermore borough is also witliin the limits of Derry township, and was
formerly a canal town. It was laid out in 1827 by John Livermore, who named
it after himself. It has not increased greatly, though it maintains several stores,
and three churches — the Methodist, Presbyterian and United Brethren. It
was incorporated by the Westmoreland courts on February 13, 1865. The men
principally interested in its incorporation were John Hill. Richard Freeland,
James Duncan and G. AI. Beham. It has one school with thirty-two pupils.

The village of Xew Derry is one of the old time villages of the county and
is much older than Derry, which is near by and in the same township.

546 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

Derry is a modern railroad town situated forty-five miles east of Pittsburgh,
and at the base of the Chestnut Ridge. It has grown up entirely since the
building of the railroad, and mostly since 1870. The Pennsylvania railroad
has many sidings there, and it is the end of a "run." Resultant from this ar-
rangement a great many railroad men live in the town, and it is essentially a
railroad tcwn. It was formerly called Derry Station, and was incorporated
under its present name the 22nd of October, 1881. The first election was held
on Tuesday, November 8th, following, at schoolhouse No. 28, in Derry town-
ship. Henry Neely was appointed judge of the election, and Messrs. Wynn
.and Sweeney were appointed inspectors. Derry has sixteen schools, with 648
pupils enrolled.

FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP.

It is impassible from the court house records to determine the date of the
organization of Franklin township. It was some time between 1785 and 1788,
for in 1785 it is not mentioned in the list of townships, but in 1788 it and
Salem are both mentioned as having constables in attendance at court. The
early settlers were William Meanor, Robert Hays, Michael Rugh, Finley, Stitt,
John Hill, Matthew Gordan, and others. WiUiam Meanor is said to have
bought a piece of land from an Indian for a keg of tobacco and a rifle, and upon
this land he built the first house in the township. This was about 1759. On
April 3, 1769, immediately upon the opening of the land office, Robert Hays
applied for a piece of land in this township, the price of which was forty
five pounds, two shillings and six pence. He was granted a tract of 339/<2
acres. Soon after this he built a house upon it, close to a house afterwards
built and lately occupied by David Steel. They were both built of logs, with
puncheon floors and wooden chimneys. The wooden chimney was made of
small ends of logs with plastering between them, and the plastering was made
thick enough to overlap and thorcughly cover the inside of the logs or sticks
composing the chimney, so that the smoke and sparks would in no way
touch the logs. The furniture consisted of rude wooden tables, split logs for
benches, deer-horn rifle racks, etc. The first settlers came from the counties
east of the Alleghany mountains. They were prosperous, and others followed
rapidly, so that the wilderness was transformed into fertile fields even before
the Revolutionary war. Thev had great troubles with the Indians, because
their northern boundary lay near the Indian country across the Kiskiminetas,
then the central part of Westmoreland county. In 1788 Michael Rugh and his
wife, son and daughter, were captured by the Indians and taken to their camp
in the northern part of the state. They were kept there in captivity during
the winter of 1778 and 1779, and from there in the spring of 1779 they were
taken to Canada and held there for three vears, after which, at the close of the
Revolution, they were sent to New York city, from which place they made their

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY

547

way back to their home, which has since descended ta John Haymaker, the
jiresent owner. Michael Rugh resided on his home until his death in 1820.
During their captivity their son died, but his wife survived all these hardships,
and died in 1809. His daughter, who was also taken a captive, survived, and
was married to Jacob Haymaker, in 1794. Michael Rugh was elected to the
house of representatives after the state government was formed. Robert Hays
and son were also early settlers, and were captured by the Indians, and held by
them for three years, during which time the son acquired a taste for the wild
life of the Indians, and was with difficulty persuaded to leave them. Even after
he returned tc Westmoreland, it is said that he spent nearly all of his time in
fishing and hunting. When his father was released he returned to his farm,
and at a later raid of the Indians, when he was assisting in the defense of his
home, he was killed in his own doorway.

The first constable elected in Franklin township was Samuel Sword, and the
first schools we have any information concerning were established in 1800. In
these reading, writing, spelling and arithmetic were the only branches taught.
An early grist-mill was built at Murrysville, and a saw-mill of William Mc-
^^'illiams was built near by, at which the timber for the surrounding meeting
liouse was sawed. About 1776 Jonathan Hill, father of Jacob Hill, took up a
tract cif land near the township line. The land is now owned by the Geigers,
Slocum, Silvis, Steel and others. In the spring he set out to procure apple
trees to plant on his land. On his return he was waylaid on the hill near Jo-
seph Lauffer's hoiise, and scalped by the Indians and killed. He was buried
on the site where Drum's Church is erected. His son, Jacob Hill, inherited
his property and erected an old fashioned distillery on it. Among the early
settlers in the county were the Wilsons, Borlands, Humes, Bethumes. Riddles,
^^'allaces, Beemers, Remaleys, Andersons, Walps, Hamiltons, Lairds, Longs,
Ehvoods, Fergusons, Hays, Pattersons, McCutcheons, Haymakers, Berlins,
McCalls, Rughs, Kings, Chambers, Snyders, Kuhns, Oglees, McAlisters, Tal-
lants, Dibles, Wigles, Beacons, Parks and Taylors. In 1794 one of the soldiers
who came from eastern Pennsylvania to put down the Whisky Insurrection
was Jacob Berlin. Prior to that an uncle o.f his, Jacob Berlin, had removed to
that part of Franklin township now included in Penn township. The young
soldier was released from military service in Pittsburgh and came to tisit
his uncle. He liked the country so well that a year later- he returned with a
young wife and made his home in Franklin township. The maiden name of
his wife was Eve Carbaugh. Later he settled on the Fink aijd Lauffer farms.
Many of the early citizens of this township walked to Brush creek, fifteen miles
away, regularly on Sunday to attend church, because there was no nearer
house cf worship. There their children were baptized by Rev. John William
Weber. Near Emanuel Church, as it is now known, formerly stood a log
dwelling where Rev. Weber frequently preached prior to his death, which oc-
curred in 1816. In 1828 the Lutherans in connection with the Reformed
Church built a church which was called Union Church. The site for it was

548 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

donated by Fhilip Drum and Peter Hill, both members of the Reformed
Church. Philip Drum was a Revolutionary soldier, and lived in this com-
munity until he was ninety-six years old. The members of this church hewed
logs on their own farms and hauled them to the place where the church was
built, and when they had a sufficient number on the ground they called in their
neighbors and erected the church. The women of the countr}- met on the
same day and provided a good dinner. The principal men who took part in
this church building were Philip Drum, John Kemerer, Philip Cline, Michael
Cline, John Cline, Peter Hill, John Lauffer of the Reformed Church, and
George Hobaugh of the Lutheran Church. The church was seated with rough
boards or trestles. In 1845 this church was enlarged by cutting out the one
end and adding to it a frame structure of fourteen feet. The whole building
was at the same time weather-boarded, and a high pulpit, known as the "Wine
Glass Pulpit," was constructed. Rev. Weinel ministered to these people until
1852 and 1853, when there were seventy-three communicants. After him
came Nicholas P.- Hacke, who held services there over four years, preaching
one-half of the time in German and one-half the time in English. In 1856 a
building committee was appointed, and they erected a new building of brick,
sixty-five by forty-four feet, and twenty-eight feet to the square. It was of
Gothic structure and cost a little less than $3,000.00. It was dedicated on
Easter Sunday, in April, 1858. Dr. Hacke was its pastor until 1867. His
successor was J. F. Snyder. In 1873 this charge was united with that of the
Olive charge, and in 1876 a parsonage was erected 011 a lot donated by Peter
Pifer. The first Lutheran pastor who preached at this church was Michael
John Steck, who was succeeded by Jonas ]\Iechling, Zimmerman Myers, A.
Yetter, S. J. Fink and ethers. The Olive Reformed Church was built by old
settlers, who were called together by Rev. Weinel in 1816. A congregation
was organized, but the date is not exactly known. Two lots were offered to
them, and two log houses were built in 1817. One was known as the Beemer
Church, and the other was known as the Hankey Church, taking their name^
from th6 man who had donated the lots upon which they were built. Mr.
\\'einel preached to both these people until 1837. He was followed by Rev.
A'oight in 1840, who continued to preach to them for sixteen years, when age
compelled him to retire, in 1858. Rev. R. P. Thomas then supplied the Han-
key Church, and the Beemer Church was so dilapidated and out of repair by
this time that it was abandoned. In the meantime both congregations had
been almost entirely absorbed by the Lutheran Church, because neither places
had had regular services. At a meeting of the Westmoreland Classis in 1867
the Beemer-Hankey Church matter was brought up, and Rev. T. F. S'tauffer
was appointed to preach to them and unite the congregations. Hankey 's
Evangelical Lutheran Church was organized in 1856, though preaching had
been held in the old log structure known as Hankey's Union Church since
1S17. The comer stone of the new edifice was laid in 1859. The first pastor
was Rev. L. M. Kuhns, and the membership at that time was quite large.

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 549

The Murrysville Presbyterian Church was organized in 1830 by Rev.
Francis Laird, and services were at first held in the house of the founder of
Murrysville, Jeremiah Slurry. He ministered to them until 1850, and died
April 6. 185 1, aged eighty-one years, and in the fifty-fourth year oi his min-
istry. He was followed by Rev. L. L. Conrad, who also preached at this
church and at Cross Roads, and who was followed in 1854 by Rev. William
Edgar. In 1866 Rev. G. M. Spargrove began preaching there. In 1869, how-
ever, a brick house in which the members had worshipped from 1840 become
too small, and in its stead a two-story brick structure was erected. A year or
two later a tornado carried ofif a large part of the roof and greatly damaged
the house. Mr. Spargrove continued pastor of this church until his death,
October 30, 1880.

The old town of Murrysville has in the past twenty-five years become
greatly noted because of a gas well which was struck there in 1878. The
town was laid out by Jeremiah Murry. He had been born in Ireland, and we
believe his name was McMurry, he having dropped the "Mc" before coming to
America. The town was on the northern turnpike, and was built about 1820.
]\Iurry came to this country in 1781, in his twenty-second year, living first in
the Cumberland valley, where he stayed but a few months. He then crossed the
Alleghany mountains en foot, as a peddler, with his pack on his back. His
first stop in this county was at Anderson's blockhouse. After selling his goods
he invested in land upon which he located his farm and selected a mill site,
which w-as clearly observable to his keen eye, but had not been noticed by prior
settlers. He and a man named Cole, the latter a hunter whose cabin was de-
stroyed by the Indians, were the first settlers in this section. The old Forbes
road crossed Turtle creek near where the town of Murrysville is new located.
The old Franktown road crosses the stream at nearly the same place. Both are
marked by a sulphur spring. Murry built a cabin and kept a little store on the
bank of the creek near where the Presbyterian church is erected. When the
turnpike was made he established the town and built a brick residence which
was the first house cf any pretension in the town. He was a storekeeper all
his life. He had married Ann Montgomery in Cumberland valley. One of his
daughters, Sarah, was married to Dr. Benjamin Burrell, who was the father
of Judge Jeremiah Murry Burrell, of the Westmoreland courts. Dr. Burrell
died December 21, 1832, aged nearly forty-one years.

Near the house buih by Murry, Dr. Stewart built a brick house in 1832,
and a man named McWiliiams also erected a brick tavern which was for many
years kept as a public house in that place. Dr. Burrell was the first physician
in Murrysville, and at his death came Dr. Charles J. Kenley and Dr. Z. G. Stew-
art. Dr. Zachariah G. Stewart was born in Huntingdon county, in 1805, and
was the son of Thomas H. and Anna Harris Stewart. He read medicine in the
east and located in Pittsburgh. After practicing there a short time he removed
to .Murrysville in 1828. There he was married to Jane, a daughter of Rev.
Francis Laird. He remained in the practice of' medicine in jNIurrysville until

550 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

1858, when he remwed to Canonsburg that he might better educate his chil-
dren.' He died in Canonsburg in 1863 from overexertion on the Gettysburg
battlefield, where he had hastened with many other physicians when the news
of the great battle in Pennsylvania called for medical aid from all sections of
the state. His wife died February 23, 1879. She was the sister of Harrison;
P. and John ^I. Laird, late cf Greensburg. Jeremiah ]\Iurry was for many
years the leading business man, merchant, justice of the peace, etc., of the
neighborhood. He was a man of much native intellect, energy, and enterprise,
and was very wealthy for that age. It is said that in one direction to the north-
east of Murrysville, he could travel five miles on his own land, much of which
had been purchased with merchandise sold from his store. He had a son.
General James Murry, who was a man of considerable talent and fine address.
Dr. J. S. Murry, a son of James Murr>% was a noted physician. J. M. Car-
penter, a prominent attorney of the Pittsburgh bar at the present time, is a
great-grandson of the original Jeremiah Murry.

An old academy of note at this place was the Turtle Creek Academy, which
was founded in 1861 by Francis Laird Stewart, a son of Dr. Z. G. Stewart.
For seme years it was held in a frame building belonging to the Doctor.
When the new Presbyterian Church was built it was held in the basement of
the church. Mr. Stewart was succeeded as principal by Rev. G. M. Spargrove,
who conducted it until his death, in October, 1880, and was succeeded by Rev.
J. I. Blackburn.

The celebrated Murrysville gas well was the most noted feature of the
old town. It was found on real estate owned by Henry Remaley, on the bank
of the Turtle creek. They were bcTing for oil when they struck an immense
gas well at a depth of fourteen hundren feet. It was the first gas well in this
county, and its equal in output has never since been struck. For some years
it was allowed to blow, and all its power went to waste. In 1880 it was utilized
for the first time by Haymaker Brothers and H. J. Brunot, who erected a
lampblack works there and carried on the manufacture of lampblack from the
escaping gas on an extensive scale until September 18, 1881, when the works
caught fire and burned to the ground. It was a very cheap method of manu-
facturing carbon, and was one of the wonders of the age. The well was said
to be the largest in the world. Its flaming fire issuing from the earth could be
seen at night a distance of eight or ten miles, and its roaring sound was dis-
tinctly heard for five or six miles. It was visited by hundreds of people who
came from all parts of the world. Among them were many distinguished
scientists of that day who wished to examine into its working and to analyze
its gas. Later the gas of this well was piped to Pittsburgh, and other wells
were bored in the same community, which doubtless struck the same vein and
produced the same quality of gas, though of less quantity. Gas iines.were laid
from this region to Pittsburgh, Johnstown, Greensburg, and various other sur-
rounding localities, and for some years gave a great impetus to the industries
of western Pennsylvania. The reckless manner in which the gas was wasted

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY

551

soon brought about a diminution in the output, the popular opinicn being at
first that the supply was inexhaustible. To-day the Murrysville field produces
but little gas, and the supply for these places has been searched for and found
in other localities.

WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP.

Washington township was organized in 1789 on the petition of certain in-
habitants of Salem township, which set forth that the division of Salem and
the formation of a new township would greatly benefit the citizens in the way
of attending elections and conducting the business of the township in general.
The court, considering the large territory in Salem, ordered that part of Salem
beginning at a line between Salem and Franklin townships, thence by an east-
ern course to the head of a branch of Beaver run ; thence down the said branch
to where it empties into the main branch ; and thence eastwardly where the land
strikes the Kiskiminetas or Loyalhanna, should be called Washington town-
ship. The principal stream in \\'ashington township is Beaver run, which
was more famous in the early history than it has been since. In the central
and southern part of the township there are extensive veins o.f coal, which is
being mined. Outside of the coal industry the principal occupation of its
citizens is agriculture.

Among the early settlers of the township were the Walters, Sloans, ^Ic-
Kowns, Kearns, Branthcovers, ]\IcKillips, Chambers, Hills, Rughs, Calhouns,
Steels, Georges, Bairs, Yockeys, Thompsons, McOuilkins, JMcOuaides, ]\[c-
Cutcheons, etc. The first school in the township was organized in 1808 in a
small building on the land of David Hilty. Its first teacher was Timothy Col-
lins. The house was a typical pioneer schoolhouse, built of logs and lighted by
strips of greased paper pasted on crevices between the logs, and heated by an
old-fashioned fireplace. About the same time a man named Charles Foster
taught school in an old deserted log building. Joseph Muffley also taught sev-
eral sessions in the same township, and raised the grade of instruction consid-
erably. The township adopted the free school system in 1836, after a sharply
contested election. Among the first school directors were Alexander Thomp-
son, John Reed, Adam Bowman. The first teachers were John ]\IcCormick,
John Duff, Samuel ]\lcCormick and others. These were usually examined by
John Craig, who himself had been a teacher in the early days.

One of the oldest churches is known as Poke Run Presbyterian Church, and
was founded in 1783 or 1784 by Joseph Thorn, William Hill, John Hamilton,
John Paul, David Carnahan and others. They applied to the Presbytery to
have preaching by supplies at an old hc^ise on the banks of Poke Run, and
from this it took its name. The house was used as a dwelling house and also
as a preaching place. In 1789 the Poke Run congregation erected a log house
there seventy feet by thirty, for by this time the membership had increased
considerably. Rev. Samuel Porter was the first pastor in 1790. It was then

552

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

on the frcnt settlement and exposed to the Indians. Not infrequently did the
people assemble there on Sunday morning for worship, each one bringing with
him his rifle, powder-horn and bullet-pouch, for they knew not how soon a
hostile band of Indians might pounce down on the congregation. When Rev.
Porter first came to the community with his family he encamped by a large
fallen tree, against which he leaned two forks or small saplings ten or twelve
feet long, laid a pole across the forks, and on this laid others to serve as rafters,
and stripped bark enough from trees to cover these rafters, and under this
rudely constructed shed he and his family slept, and he prepared his sermons
until their regular house cowld be built. Their meals were cooked on a fire
made by the side of a log in the woods. Rev. Porter resigned in 1798 and took
exclusive charge of the Congruity congregation. After him came Rev.
Francis Laird, the progenitor of the Laird family of Greensburg, and the son-
in-law of Judge John Moore. Rev. Laird had come from the east of the
mountains, and at first preached to the Poke Run and Plum Creek congrega-
tions unitedly. He was installed on June 22, 1800. He served these people
with great ability for twenty-nine years and a half, and then removed to Mur-
rysville. Revs. Alexander and ]\Iartin followed him at Poke Run. Martin
turned out to be an impostor, and was soon dismissed. In 1833 James Camp-
bell was pastor, and he was followed in 1834 by Rev. David Kirkpatrick, who
preached to them as a supply until 1838, when he was installed their regular
pastor. He preached in the old log church until the brick church was built,
which was in 1836. By this time they had grown enough to require his entire
time as pastor, and they raised his salary to six hundred dollars a year. He
was the father of the late Judge John M. Kirkpatrick, of Pittsburgh. Rev.
Kirkpatrick continued to be pastor of this church until his death, January 5,
1869, a period of thirty years. He died at his residence near Oakland. He
was one of the leading pastors in the Presbyterian Church, and was known
far and wide as a scholar and a theologian. He was been in Ireland, and was
a graduate of the University of Belfast. On his arrival in America he was
engaged as principal of an academy at JNIilton, Pennsylvania, and while there
had some students who became eminent in life. Among others were Governor
Andrew G. Curtin. All his life he was more or less of a teacher, having
under his pupilage young men who wanted to enter the ministry or other vo-
cations in life, and he instructed them under the most rigid discipline. He
won the highest respect of his neighbors, and all the community in general.
Rev. Henry Bain succeeded Rev. Kirkpatrick in 1869. He came from Ohio
and ministered to them with great intelligence and zeal. Through his efforts
largely a new brick church, the present one, was built on the site of the old log
church, and was dedicated in 1881. Rev. Bain came directly to them from the
Theological Seminary. He had been bred a LTnited Presbyterian, but joined
the Presbyterian Church in Haysville, Ohio. He entirely remodeled and
greatly improved the style of worship at Poke Run. When he came they used

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 553

-tokens." "table seats," and a Scotch version of the Psahiis. But these have all
gWtn away to the modern customs of Presbyterianism.

The JMethodist Church at Oakland Cross Roads was erected in 1875 and
was dedicated that fall, but there were few Methodists in the neighborhood.

The Pine Run Reformed Church was organized in North Washington
township in 1861, with about twenty-seven members. The most of them ori-
ginally belonged to the St. James Church at Salina, but they had a long dis-
tance to travel to worship, and therefore formed a new congregation. By-
contributing various sums from five to one hundred dollars, they secured
enough money to build their church. Rev. R. P. Thomas was the pastor, and
continued with them until 1863, when he was succeeded by Rev. Thomas J.
Barklay, who remained in charge until the end of 1866. Rev. T. F. Stauflfef
succeeded him in 1867, and gave one-half his time to St. James Church and one-
half to the Poke Run congregation. He resigned in 1871 and removed to
Allegheny county. His successor was Rev. J. B. Welty in 1872, who remained
one year. After him came Rev. John Grant, and then Rev. John McConnell,
who served as a supply, and in 1875 the congregation was able to maintain a
pastor of its own, and Rev. Henry Bair took charge of it.

Washington township has fourteen schools, with 306 pupils enrolled.

CHAPTER XLI

Unity Township. — Latrobe Borough. — New Alexandria.

Unity township was formed upon a petition by numerous inhabitants of 'Mt.
Pleasant township, which was presented to the court in 1789. The petition set
forth that they labored under great inconvenience on account of the extent of
the township and the long distances they had to travel in conducting its cor-
porate afifairs. They prayed that a new township might be erected from that
part of Mt. Pleasant which lies next to the Lcyalhanna creek. The prayer of
the petitioners was granted on the 23rd day of September, 1789, and they were
therefore incorporated at that time. It is a very large and very strong and
wealthy township. It is bounded on the north by Derry and Salem townships
and by Loyalhanna creek : cn the east by Ligonier and Cook townships, with
Chestnut Ridge as a dividing line ; on the south by Mt. Pleasant township, and
on the west by Hempfield township. Considerable attention has already been
paid to the early history of Unity township in speaking of Mt. Pleasant town-
ship, from which it was carved. St. Vincent's Abbey and St. Xavier's In-
stitution are both in Unity township, and have been described in the general
church history. It has within its limits the Unity Presbyterian congregation,
one of the oldest and most historic churches in Western Pennsylvania. Nearby
is a graveyard known now as Unity cemetery, which is over one hundred years
old. The part of Unity township which lies next to Chestnut Ridge is high,
rocky, and of little value for agriculture. The entire township is rather hilly.
The lower part of the township is drained by Nine Mile Run. Notwithstanding
the roughness of the land, by hard labor comfortable homes have been carved
out even far up on the ridge. Indeed the earliest settlements were made on
the high ground, the general opinion being that the bottoms were marshy and
unfit for agriculture. The portion of the township on the west side of Nine
Mile Run and between that and the Dry Ridge is one of the most productive,
richest and best developed agricultural regions in the county. The land is of
a heavy limestone quality, and is indeed excellently adapted for the production
of wheat and corn, etc. The ridge part, which was at caie time regarded as of
little value, later gave rise to a lumber trade which has been very profitable..

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAXD COUXTY. 555

The Pennsylvania railroad running through the township brought a market for
the lumber. Still later came the coal industry. The Connellsville seam of
coal underlies the greater part of the township. The coal industry has become
so extensive that all industries have been dwarfed by it.

One of the oldest boroughs in the township is that of Youngstown. It was
incorporated by Act of Assembly cti the 2nd of April, 1831. The inhabitants
voted at the house of John Gibson, on the first Monday of May ensuing. The
borough is about forty miles east cf Pittsburgh, and is situated on the old
Pittsburgh and Philadelphia turnpike. It was a very important stopping place
in the wagon and stage-coach days of the earlier part of last century. One of
its old taverns was kept by a man named Reed, and was known all along the
route. Long before the village was incorporated it was a respectable collec-
tion of houses. It was on the old Pennsylvania state road, w^hich was used by
the Federal troops in 1794, when they came west to quell the Whisky Insurrec-
tion. Among the first landowners there was Alexander Young, after whom the
town was named. It was laid out by Joseph Baldridge. JNIartin West was
the owner of land contiguous to the town. He took great interest in the vil-
lage, and sometimes the place was called Martinsburg. in honor of his first
name. It was for some years a market town and postoffice of General Arthur
St. Clair, William Findley, our first congressman; William Todd, the Proctors,
the Lochrys, George Smith, and others who lived near by, and who are well
known in the early history of our county. William Todd was a member of
the assembly and one of the council of censors. Still later he was an associate
judge of our courts. He came from the same stock that produced the Todd
family cf Ohio and Kentucky, one of whom was the wife of President Lincoln.
Prominent among the citizens of a later period were Alexander Johnston,
James Ke'enan, John Coulter, John Head, Daniel Boonbright, all of whom are
familiar to Westmorelanders. The Boonbrights, members of the firm of
Hood, Boonbright & Co., wholesale merchants of Philadelphia, were sons of
Daniel Boonbright, and received their early training in Youngstcwn.

Pleasant Unity is an unincorporated village in Unity township. It was form-
erly called "Buzzards Town," taking its name from a family who were de-
scended from John Buzzard, who owned the land upon which the town is
built. The name is now written "Bossart." Pleasant Unity is situated in the
center of a splendid agricultural district which was wealthy long before the
coal industry added to its opulence.

The Unity Presbyterian Church, of which we have spoken, is two miles
west of Latrobe, and a short distance north of the Pennsylvania railroad. There
is no record of its first organization. It is probable that Rev. James Power
preached there first on his first visit to Western Pennsylvania in 1774. It was
at Unity Church that he was preaching en the afternoon that Hannastown was
burned by the Indians in 1782. The original warrant for the land upon which
it and its cemetery are located was taken out in the name of Robert Hanna,
Andrew Allison and John Sloan, "for the erection of a meeting house and for

356

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY

the burviiig ground for the Presbyterian congregation of Unity, under the
guard of the Svnod of Xew York and Philadelphia." This warrant is dated
JNlarch i, 1774. It is, therefore, one of the oldest congregations in the county.
It celebrated its centennial anniversary in 1884. Of Rev. James Power and
Rev. John McPherrin, its first pastors, we have frequently spcken. Rev.
William S])ear became a pastor there in 1803 and continued until 1829, the year
■of his death. He was followed in 1830 by Rev. Robert Henry, who preached
.there until 1839. Rev. Peter Hassinger was pastor there from 1839 to 1844.
In 1846 George Morton was ordained and was released in 1848. Rev. N. H.
Gillett was installed in 1849 and continued there until 1868, when he resigned
•cii account of failing health, about three months before his death. He was
followed by Rev. Daniel W. Townsend in 1869.

Until 1839 Unity and Greensburg were united in the same charge. Since
that time they have separated, and each supports a minister of its own. Four
Iiouses of worship have been successively used by this congregation. The first
was a mere shelter for the preacher, called Proctor's Tent, on the farm of the
renowned sherifif, John Proctor. The second was a log building, square-
shaped at first, but aterwards enlarged by a log addition on two sides. In i83r
they erected a large brick church, which gave way to another brick edifice in
1874, and is yet standing. It is completely finished and beautifully situated, it
being one of the best country churches in the county. The congregation owns
the farm upon which it stands. It contains seventy acres. The church and
cemetery are held and managed by a board of trustees under a charter. Most
■of the families now connected with the church are descendants of the original
settlers who came there in the Revolutionary days and before that. In 1768,
indeed, William Greer, an Irish Presbyterian, settled on a farm near the church.
It has been owned by his descendants ever since, and is now owned by Samuel
H. Miller, a great-grandson. Near by him at a later date settled the Hunters,
■Georges, Baldridges, !Mullons, Larimers, Sloans, Fletchers, Allisons, Smiths,
■etc., all of whom were among the early attendants at this church. Colonel John
Proctor, Judge Robert Hanna, our first congressman, William Findley and
Archibald Lochry were all nearby residents, and were useful members of this
congregation, none of whom, save Lochry, we believe, have descendants in the
county at present. The communicants of this church are now largely well-to-
do farmers, owning their own farms and living in the community. The names
of the first elders of the church elected some time in 1782 are John Moore, Will-
iam Waddell, Andrew Allison and Samuel Coulter. The time appointed for
the ordination was July 13, 1782, and the news of the burning of Hannastown
broke up the meeting. The people hurried to their homes to defend their
families, if necessary, and the minister. Rev. Power as we have said, rode
rapidly toward his home at IMiddle Church, near the present town of Mount
Pleasant. The next elders elected were Andrew Larimer, William Barnes,
"William B. Findley, Robert ^Marshall. John Morrison, and James Montgomery.

The Reformed Church of Youngstown was established in the early part of

HISTORY OF IVESTMORELAXD COUNTY.

55T

last century. Prior to that the communicants had been attached to Greensburg
and j\lt. Pleasant congregations, and at their homes were frequently visited by
Rev. Weber in his many long dreary rides over the country. Dr. N. P. Hacke-
preached to them also in 1821, and continued to administer to them until 1813,.
when Rev. Boyer succeeded him. After him came Rev. Voight, in the spring
of 1833, and continued preaching to them until 1859. Rev. C. C. Russell be-
gan preaching to them about that time and continued until 1863. He was
followed by Rev. J. I. Swander, who attached the church at Youngstown to the-
Latrobe Church, of which he was pastor.

The township has forty schools, with 1570 pupils enrolled.

LATROBE BOROUGH.

Before the construction of the Pennsylvania railroad the ground on which
Latrobe now stands was covered with large forest trees, principally oak and
hickory, and with a thick undergrowth such as is found on lands bordering on^
large streams of water. Early in the present century a large flouring mill, later
known as "Chamber's IMill," had been erected on the banks of the Loyalhanna,.
and this was the nucleus about which the town of Latrobe was long afterwards,
built. The town was therefcTe laid out practically in the woods, and there-
are many citizens living there yet who remember of them cutting down the ori-
ginal forest trees in order to build houses. It is situated forty miles east of
Pittsburgh, on the banks of the Loyalhanna. It is, we believe, the most beauti-
fully located town in Westmoreland county as to its topography. In every
direction from the center, good building sites, level ground for manufacturing-
and for the laying-out of streets may be secured. The Loyalhanna affords
good water facilities, as it winds circularly around the borough, and this may
be one reason why the town has prospered as it has. Before the railroad was-
built the land was owned by Mr. Kirk. He sold it to Oliver J. Barnes, an en-
gineer in the employ of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, who foresaw
that a town was likely to be built there. He laid out a plan and began to sell'
lots at once. It is said he realized about $80,000 from their sale. This plaiv
was recorded on JNIay 28, 1851, and the town was named after Benjamin F.
Latrobe, a civil engineer, who had been identified with the Baltimore & Ohio-
railroad and the building of the Pennsylvania railroad. Mr. Latrobe was for
many years a resident of the city of Baltimore, and at one time was mayor of
that city. Mr. Kirk, after selling to Barnes, removed to Pittsburgh, ahd after
seme years returned to Latrobe. It is said that for his residence lot then, he
paid nearly as much as he had received from Barnes for his entire farm.
Barnes donated to the Pennsylvania railroad three acres of land in the center of
the town, upon which the company erected a large depot, a hotel and a ware-
house. The building was in the Roman style of architecture, which, though it
has since been removed from its original location, is yet a pretentious structure..
Within four vears after the town was laid out it had a population of between

558 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

five and six hundred, an increase which in that day was considered phenomenal.
The borou.e^h was incorporated by order of court on the 24th day of Alay,
1854. The first electicn was held at the house of Major David Williams, which
at the present time is known as the "Parker House." This election took place
June 10, 1854. John Parker was apointed by the court to give notice of the
election, and Robert W. Baldridge was judge of the election.

The first manufacturing industry that came to Latrobe was the Pennsyl-
vania Car Weeks, established there in 1852 by Oliver J. Barnes, the founder of
the town. After operating them some six or eight years he sold out to S. H.
and Reuben Baker, two brothers, who had come there from Chester county.
They took charge of the old brick fcimdry and factor)', and soon added to it
several large buildings, and it made a great industry for the infant town. They
were also engaged extensively in the lumber business in Indiana county and in
Ligonier valley, as well as in Virginia, and in a business way may be considered
among the makers of Latrobe. Nearly all of their product was sold to the
Pennsylvania Railroad Company.

Another early industry was the paper business, which was established in
1865 by Bierer, Watt & Co. They subsequently sold the business to Christy &
•Co., who in the fall of 1871 sold out to Metsgar Bros. & Co., and this in 1870
was absorbed by James Peters & Co., who have practically continued the busi-
jiess since then. It has increased so greatly that in the last five years they have
•outgrown the borough of Latrobe, and have moved about three miles east, near
Kingston House, where they erected one of the largest paper plants in our
state. They also own extensive coal fields in Ligonier valley, from which they
mine their own coal and considerable for outside markets.

The Presbyterian Church of Latrobe was established jMarch i, 1869, with
one hundred and ten members. The house of worship had been erected some
years previous, the charge being attached to Unity Church, which was situated
.about two miles from Latrobe. Rev. N. H. Gillett, pastor of the Unity Church,
had preached to the Latrobe people as a supply. Rev. S. Isl. Davis was,
properly speaking, the first pastor in the church at Latrobe. In 1891 they
built their present fine church edifice. Their pastor is Rev. Ebenezer Fleck.

The Catholic Church in Latrobe was dedicated January 18, 1857, its first
pastor being Rev. J. Kearney. Previous to this the Catholics were supplied by
pastors from St. Vincent's, which is but a short distance west of Latrobe. It
is now a very strong church, and being under the wing of the great monastery
and abbey, it has surpassed all other religious denominations in Latrobe in
membership and influence. St. John's (Polish) Church was built in 1891. If
is a fine brick edifice. Fathers McCullough and Powloiwski are the pastors.

The Reformed Church was established in Latrobe in 1855, though it was
then connected with tlie Youngstown congregation. In 1859 they began to
luikl regular services there, being ministered to mostly by Rev. C. C. Russell.
.'\t that time the\- used the Lutheran Church building until their new edifice

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

559

could be completed. Rev. Russell retired from the pastorate in 1864, and Rev.

E. D. Shoemaker took his place. He retired in 1867 and was followed by H.

F. Keener. On a let of ground on East Main street, purchased for five hun-
dred dollars, they erected a church in 1868. For some years they were con-
nected with Pleasant Unity, Youngstown and Ligonier. Their present pastor
is Rev. C. M. Hartzell.

The Lutheran Church was organized in Latrobe in 1855, the first pastor be-
ing Rev. Augustus Robb. He was followed by Revs. Saam, Bosener, Focht,
Bochtel, Beeber,'J. H. Smith and A. D. Potts. Their present pastor is Rev.

G. N. Dietz. The Evangelical Lutheran Church began holding services there
in i860. Rev. L O. P. Baker ministered to them then, but not regularly. He
was followed by Rev. IMechling in '62 or '63, and was succeeded by Daniel
W'orley, who preached at Ligonier, Latrobe and Derry until 1865. It is now
called Trinity Lutheran Church, and was remodeled in 1897. The present pas-
tor is J. K. W'ismer.

The i\Iethodist Episcopal Church was organized in Latrobe in 1856, and the
same year they built a very respectable brick church for that day. The first
pastors were Revs. McCarty and Bracken. The congregation began with
fifteen members, and at first worshipped in the schoolhouse. In 1886 they
purchased a new lot and built a new and very handsome church, being one of
the best in Westmoreland county. The present pastor is Rev. R. C. Wolf, and
the congregation is one of the largest in Latrobe.

The United Brethren congregation was early established in Latrobe, and is
no.w one of the leading powers in the church work of the place. In 1902 they
built a very fine stone church and parsonage under one roof. It is situated on
Ligcnier street, and is one of the best buildings in the county. The United
Presbyterian and the Protestant Episcopal churches have also congregations in
Latrobe.

In the last ten years Latrobe has increased very rapidly in population, and
has also multiplied its industries. The most important of the latter is the
Latrobe steel works. Their large plant is situated in the eastern
part of Latrobe. The works are owned mainly by Philadelphians, and
are operated independent of the steel combination companies. They have sev-
eral large buildings and are now (1905) making extensive enlargements of
their plant. The town has two large flouring mills, the GregcTy furnaces, two
planing mills, the Latrobe foundry and machine shops, the latter an extensive
plant in ^^■cst Latrobe ; the Latrobe brick works, two large breweries, and the
Loyalhanna distillery. The town is also a great coal center, but that industry
is considered elsewhere in this work. The borough is well supplied with
natural gas.

There are three school buildings, one a frame structure built in 1882, and
the others of brick, built in 1893 and 1902. These three buildings contain thirty
rooms and the enrollment for 1905 was 872.

56o HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

An electric street railway conects Latrobe with Youngstown and the ccal
works beyond, and also with Derry, five miles to the east. The newspapers of
the borough are the Bulletin, established 1902, the Daily Advance, established
1903, and the Weekly Advance, established in 1873. The banks are the Citi-
zens' National, organized in 1888, with a capital of $50,000; First National, or-
ganized in 1888, with a capital of $100,000; and the People's National, organ-
ized in 1901, with a capital of $100,000.

The population in 1905 may be fairly estimated at 6,000. It has twenty-
four schools, with 872 pupils enrolled.

NEW ALEXANDRIA.

One of the oldest boroughs in the county is the borough of New Alexan-
dria, which was incorporated by an Act of Assembly passed on the loth of
April, 1834, incorporating with it also the borough of Ligonier. New Alex-
andria, which had formerly been known as Denniston's Town, never increased
greatly in population, though lately the opening up of some coal fields near by
has awakened it from the lethargy which overcame it in former days. Its chief
feature in the past has been the high standing and rehgious character of its
citizens, and the interest which they always take in historical incidents, in which
their community abounded. It has two schools, with 109 pupils enrolled.

CHAPTER XLII

Salem Township. — New Salem. — South Huntingdon Township. — West Newton. — East
Huntingdon Township. — Scottdale.

The date of the organization of Salem township is unknown, fcT there is a
blank in our court records, which were probably lost in their removal from
Hannastown to Greensburg. It does not appear among the list of townships in
1785, but does appear in the list in 1788. The township has been changed
materially since its original formation. It is bounded at present on the north
by Washington, Bell and Loyalhanna townships ; on the east by Loyalhanna
crc-ek and Derry township ; on the south by the townships of Unity and Hemp-
field, and on the west by Penn and Franklin townships. Almost the entire-
township is underlaid with continuous veins of coal of the Pittsburgh seam,,
which are rarely ever less than seven feet in thickness. The supply is almost
inexhaustible, and it affords an industry to perhaps a majority of its present-
inhabitants. The principal streams in Salem township are the Beaver run and
the White Thorn run.

Among the first settlers were many of Massachusetts ancestry, and the
whole township, so far as its pioneer families are concerned, bears the impress
of New England industry, prudence and thrift. Many of these settlers were
of British and Scotch-Irish descent. Among them were James McQuilken,
\\'iniam Wilson, \\'illiam Hall, Christian Ringer, David Shryock, Michael Mc-
Closkey, Philip Steinmates, John Cochran, William Wilson, George Hall, the
Laughlins, George Wilson, and others. In 1803 John Beatty, of Fayette
county, moved into a log cabin about two miles north of the present town of
New Salem. Abcait that time two well-known stonemasons, Ned. O'Hara and
I\Iichael Rogers, were citizens in Salem township, and in 1802 William Wiley
came from Ireland. His wife was a sister of Jacob Diebel, an old citizen of
Murrysville, and they bought one hundred acres of land which had formerly
been owned by the Brownlees and Crookshanks. In 1800 a log school house
was erected a mile north of New Salem, close to the Freeport road. The
teacher for several years was Alexander McMurry. In 1808 John Kline, who
was married to Susan Hill, of P'ranklin township, settled in Salem township.
He was an old man and worked at the cooper trade. He had been given per-

36

562 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

mission to spend tiie rcniainder of his da_vs on land that was supposed to be-
long to Fred Anient, l:)iit it turned out shortly afterwards that he was living on
Matthew Jack's land. ( )n learning this the old cooper was so wrought up that
lie hanged himself on an apple tree with a silk handkerchief. In 1805 Fred
Anient had come from York county and purchased land of ^^'illiam Dixon,
about a mile from Salem. There he lived until Juh" 14. 1847. I" 1818 John
Hutton came from Franklin county, and spent the remainder of his days in the
touiiship, working mostly as a stonemason. George Xunamaker in an early
day settled near Congruity. Other early settlers were the Laughlins, IMoores,
Walthours, W'altons, Saxmans, Knappenbergers. Kissems, Shields, Shaws,
Cooks. Steels. Potts, Bairs, Sloans, Frys, Dushanes, Christys, ]\IcConnells,
Jones. Pauls, .Stewarts, Wagoners, Givens, ]\IcGearys, Snyders. Kecks. Ral-
stons, Caldwells, Gordons, McQuaides, Stouts, Adairs, Hornings. Gibsons,
Craigs, Keples, Shusters, Kemerers, and Zimmermans.

We have some important recollections of this township from the late Hon.
Thomas Bigliam, of Pittsburgh, who had made extensive researches in an-
tiquarian history. He was a native of Westmoreland county, and his observa-
tions applied not only to Salem township but to other early settlements in \\'est-
moreland county. His father was an original settler, and had located on lands
on Beaver run, in Salem township, adjoining Delmont, shortly after Pontiac's
war, perhaps about 1766. His parents died when he was an infant, and he was
brought up by his grandfather. In speaking of the early settlers and their
simple habits, he says that even women were reconciled to the plainest of living
and attire. There were no stores in that day in which fashicnable goods were
kept to tempt the vanity of the young. They had no fashionable places wherein
to display anything beautiful if they had possessed it. Their food was of the
most healthful character, and invariably prepared by their own hands. INIost
of their clothing was the product of their own looms, and was homespun and
grown upon sheep of their own land. There was scarcely a farm in the com-
munity which did not raise flax, and this the women spun and wove into fabric.
Tea- and coffee could be procured only by packhorse trains by which these lux-
uries were transported from one to two hundred miles. Their log cabins, he
says, if not elegant, were at least healthy. People all met and lived largely as a
common class. None were masters and none were servants. Their log cabins
were ver}- simple. When a young couple married they frequently went into
the woods to open up a new home for themselves, and a cabin of two rooms
satisfied their ambitions. As children multiplied they enlarged their home, but
in his boyhood days, he says, nearly all the well-to-do fanners had erected
substantial frame houses, with parlors, dining rooms, kitchens and the general
conveniences of modern civilization. For many years nearly all the goods not
raised on the farm were carried from the east by pack-horses on roads which
v.'cre little less than bridle paths through the woods. The road used mainly
v.as Forlies' road, and afterwards the old state road. and. though both were
ciriginallv opened as wagon routes, vet in a few years tlie landslides, falling

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY

563

OLD TREES MILL, BUILT IN 1802,

564 HISTORY or WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

rocks and heavy fallen trees, rendered them almost impassable for anything
save a train of packhorses. One of the chief provisions which people must
have and which could not be produced, was salt. A single horse, he says, would
carry three ct four hundred pounds on a pack-saddle from the east to the west.
Money was almost unknown among the early settlers. Everything was bar-
tered for some other product. Even pack-horse trains carried products from
the east and traded it for material which they carried back on their return trip.
Neighbors frequently went together and collected a large number of horses,
which they loaded with goods and journeyed east. Sometimes this caravan
would number as many as one hundred horses, which would pass east in a single
file, one man having charge of six or eight horses.

Politics was a subject never discussed then by the people. Nearly all the
county officers were appointed by the governor, and no conventions were held
then to nominate tickets to the few elective offices. Those who aspired to pub-
lic office announced their candidacy in the newspapers. The public then met,
and, with five or six candidates to choose from, each man voted for whom he
pleased. The October election in the early days was held in Hannastown and
later at Greensburg. Scarcely ever one-third of the electors voted at a county
election. The election for governor would, however, bring out a larger vote.
When he was a boy, Mr. Bigham says, he attended an October election in
Greensburg at which Gregg and Schultz were candidates, and was amazed to
find the streets of the town crowded with people. About that time the cus-
tom of appointing presidential electors came in vogue, and his grandfather was
greatly annoyed with the complicated machinery of an electoral ticket. Every-
one knew General Jackson, "Old Hickory," as they loved to call him, and of
the battle of New Orleans, but they had not heard of the thirty-two persons
who were to be voted for as electors. They had elected Washington, Jefifer-
son, etc., in the old way, why was this not sufficient?

In 1840 a man named Anderson, originally from Greensburg, was taken to
the Western Penitentiary, having been convicted of robbery. He had formerly
been a schoolmaster, but took to the woods and soon became one of the most
noted and daring highwaymen we have ever had in Westmoreland county. It
is said that he was extremely supple, and could leap to the boot of a stage-
coach and steal articles from it so quickly that it could not be noticed by the
driver or those in the coach. Stealing was a mania with him. He stole arti-
cles that were of no value to him at all. When taken to prison he became stub-
born and unmanageable, refused to eat, and when placed in his cell stopped up
all the holes in it, turned on the hydrant, and when rescued was almost
drowned. After lingering in this manner for some days, without taking any
nourishment, he died. He had a cave in Salem township where he secreted
all of his plunder, and kept hidden from the officers of the law. He was at the
zenith of his career of robbery and intimidation from 1835 to 1840. He was
probably no more, after all, than a kleptomaniac, but terrorized the country for
many years until finally captured.

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 565

Congruity Presbyterian Church first asked for a supply on July 31, 1789,
two months after the organization of the General Assembly. On September
20th, 1790, Rev. Samuel Porter and Rev. John McPherrin were ordained minis-
ters in a tent on James ]\IcKee's farm, and Porter was installed as pastor of
Congruity and Poke Run churches. Congruity Church has raised perhaps a
larger number of young men for the ministry than any other in the county.
Among others were Rev. Samuel Porter, Jr., W. K. Marshall, Edward R.
Geary. Craig McClelland, William Edgar, John Steel, William F. Kean, Laz-
arus B. Shryock, Samuel P. Bollman, John IM. Jones, David L. Dickey and
others.

The first pastor, Rev. Samuel Porter, was born in Ireland, June 11, 1760,
and was of Covenanter parentage. He came to America in 1783, and spent
some time in Mercersburg. In 1784 he went to Washington county, where he
taught school. There he came under the notice of seme of the renowned men
of the Presbyterian Church, and he was induced to enter upon a course of
study preparatory to entering the ministry. He studied under James Hughes,
John Brice and Joseph Patterson and ethers. After three years he was li-
censed by the Red Stone Presb^-tery on November 12, 1789, and in April of the
following year began his work at Congruity and Poke Run. The region em-
braced by his congregation was little less than a backwoods or frontier settle-
ment at that time. Many of the people were as wild and uncultivated as the
country in which they lived, and they were greatly in need of the refining in-
fluences of the gospel. It is said that on one occasion when Rev. Porter was
preaching in the weeds, two young men withdrew from the congregation and
ran a foot race in full view of the preacher and his hearers. Under his faithful
work the congregation increased very rapidly, and in eight years they felt them-
selves able to support a pastor alone, so Poke Run was taken from Congruity
in 1798. This was due in part to the fact that Mr. Porter did not regard him-
self as physically able to attend to the wants of both people. Congruity con-
gregation promised him a salary of "one hundred and twenty pounds per year,
to be paid one-half in merchantable wheat at five shillings per bushel, and the
remainder in cash." To this Mr. Porter agreed, and continued his pastoral re-
lations in that church until his death, September 10, 1825, in all a period of
thirty-five years.

While Mr. Porter was pastor there, a new stone tavern was built on the
pike, scarcely a mile from the church, and was opened by the owner, a very
clever and ingenious landlord, who invited the young folks to have a house-
warming and dance in his new tavern. Tickets were distributed and guests in-
vited, many of whom were members of Congruity Church. On the Sunday
prevfous to the intended ball, Mr. Porter, after preaching one of his customary
eloquent sermons, before dismissing the congregation, said that the Presbytery
would meet the following Tuesday in Greensburg, and also said that on Thurs-
day evening at early candle-light a ball would be held about three-fourths of a
mile from that place. He said it was to be hoped that all pdite young ladies

566 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

and jjeiitlcnicn would attend, for it was a place where politeness and manners
could be learned and cultivated, and that many other things could be said in
favor of such places which it was not necessary for him to mention at the time.
For his own part, if he did not attend, the young' folks, he hoped, would excuse
him, as it was likely he might be detained by the Presbytery, but if he should
return in time and nothing else prevented him, he would be present and would
open the exercises of the night by reading a text of scripture, singing a psalm,
etc. Then, with full and solemn voice and in his most impressive manner, he
read the gth verse of the nth chapter of Ecclesiastes ; next he announced and
read the 73rd Psalm, and then offered prayer. He prayed for the thoughtless
and gay, and asked the Great Spirit to guard them from the vices which might
lead the youthful minds astray, after which, with a most solemn henediction, he
dismissed his congregation. The evening set for the ball arri\c(l and jiassed
away, but no ball was held, the whole community having been awakened by the
venerable pastor's words. During his last years he was enfeebled and unable
to stand, and therefore preached while sitting in a split-bottcm chair which
stood in the pulpit. He was succeeded by Rev. Samuel ]\[cFarren, who
preached there forty-two years with great success. He resigned January nth.
1870, because of his old age, although the members generally favored his con-
tinuance. He died August 4th of the same year. He was succeeded by Rev.
W. J. Bollman, who resigned in 1872, and Rev. William B. Craig, of Carlyle
Presbytery, followed him.

The Fennell congregation, a Reformed and Lutheran church, is an oftspring
of the Trinity Reformed congregation of New Salem. In 1858 Rev. R. P.
Thomas was engaged to preach to them at Concord schoolhouse every two
weeks. In 1859 3 lot of ground was purchased upon which a church edifice
was built, and a graveyard was laid out. The edifice is of frame, and is forty-
five by thirty-two feet. It was dedicated February 27, i860, by Rev. N. P.
Hacke. The Lutheran congregation, occupying the same house, was organized
in 1859. The first pastor was Rev. A. Yetter, who was succeeded by Rev. V.
B. Christy, and they have now a large membership.

The Presbyterian Church in New Salem was organized chiefly from mem-
bers of the Congruity Church, on Christmas Day, 1849. Rev. James C. Car-
son, the first pastor, was installed on February 11, 1851. A substantial church
edifice was erected about that time. Rev. Carson was succeeded by Rev. David
Harbison, who in turn gave way to Rev. J. L. Thompson in 1876. He was born
in Washington county, was graduated in the class of "69 of the Washington and
Jefferson College, and soon after that entered the ministry. Rev. J. C. Carson,
the first pastor, died July 5, 1870. The church building was built by contract
by D. W. Shryock, late of Greensburg. It was forty-eight by fifty-six feet,
and cost $1,520, and was built in 1850.

The Trinity Reformed Church was organized by members of this denomina-
tion, a great many of whom lived around New Salem. Thev. in connection
wuh the Lutheran Ciiurch, organized a congregation and built a church edifice

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 567

in 1849. The first pastor that served them was Rev. S. H. Giesey. He con-
tinued pastor until August i, 1855, when he was succeeded by Rev. Thomas G.
Apple. He was succeeded by Rev. R. P. Thomas in 1858, who in turn gave
way to Rev. T. J. Barklay in 1864.

The Salem Evangelical Lutheran Church was organized in 1850, with about
thirty-three communicants. A temporary church had been built in 1849 a"<:l
dedicated 1850. In 1868 they built a brick church, which is still standing. The
pastors have been Rev. Michael Eyster, C. H. Hurst, A. Yetter. J. D. English,
\". B. Christy, J. A. Bauman, J. D. Roth.

The ^Methodist Episcopal Church of New .Salem was organized in 1833.
Their first edifice erected that year was a brick structure Avhich fell down in
1844 and was replaced by a frame building in 1846. This stood until 1874,
when a new one was erected, which has been since torn down and a fourth
erected. The pastors have been W. W. Roup, S. B. Slease, JNl. B. Pugh, A.
H. iMiller, George Orbin, W. Johnson, J. B. Gray, W. S. Cummins.

FcT many years the Convenanters had a regular place of worship in this
town, with Rev. ]\Ir. Cannon as pastor, preaching the last Sunday of each
month. They frec^uently preached in David Christy's woods, a short distance
out of town. This congregation has been abandoned, and its members have
largely united themselves with other churches. Salem township has eighteen
schools, with 665 pupils enrolled.

NEW SALEM.

The town of Xew Salem was incorporated as a borough in 1833. Delmont
has been the name of the postoffice in this place for the last twenty-five- years,
and its real name has been almost entirely lost, the town being generally
known by the name of its postoffice. Previous to the founding of the town,
Hugh Bigham had started a store where the town now stands. Prior to 1833
there were no churches in New Salem, though there were preachers who fre-
quently preached in schoolhouses or at an adjoining grove. The Methodists
in reality effected the first organization in the village. It is situated on a tract
of land warranted to William Wilson on November 8, 1874. By his will he
divided the land between his sons George and Thomas Wilson, from whom it
was obtained on December 7, 1812. The town was laid out in 1814. Before
the Pennsylvania railroad was built New Salem was a very important center,
for it was one of the main stopping places of the Northern Pike. Lately the
borough has been somewhat awakened by the coal industry, which has opened
the thriving town of Export, within two miles of that place, and which has
built a railroad from the Pennsylvania railroad to Export, affording an outlet
for the people of New Salem and Salem township. When the borough was
incorporated in 1833 by the General Assembly the citizens were to meet on the
fir.=t Tuesday of May of each year at the house of Henn.' Hugus to hold their

568

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

annual election. Thomas Wilson was the first judge of the election. The
borough has three schools, with Ii8 pupils enrolled.

SOUTH HUNTINGDON TOWNSHIP.

South Hunting-don township was one of the original townships organized
April 6, 1773. Its boundaries began at the mouth of Brush run, where it emp-
ties into Brush creek; thence along Byerly's path to Braddock's road and
along said road to the line of Mt. Pleasant township ; and thence by the line
of Tyrone and Pittown township ; thence to the beginning. The officers at the
first election were George Shilling, constable; James Baird and William Mar-
shall, overseers of the poor ; David Vance, road supervisor. This township
remained as originally laid out until January, 1790, when the court divided
it into North and South Huntingdon townships. The original township was
then again divided into East and South Huntingdon townships. This was in
1798. The present boundaries of the township are: North by Sewickley ;
northeast by Hempfield ; east by East Huntingdon township ; south by Fayette
county, and on the west by the Youghiogheny river. The surface of the
township is diversified, part of it being hilly and part quite level. It contains
vast deposits of bituminous coal, which is now in process of development. The
Pittsburgh and Connellsville railroad runs along the Youghiogheny river the
entire length of the township, and it affords a splendid outlet for the transpor-
tation of coal.

The first settlers in the township were the Millers, Shulls, Finleys, Plum-
ers, Blackburns, Markles, Rodarnels, etc. One of the first settlers was George
Plumer, who was born December 5, 1752, and died January 8, 1843. He is
said to be the first child born west of the Alleghany mountains. He was once
a prisoner for four or five days in Fort Duquesne, having been captured by
an Indian chief, Killbuck. Plumer afterward became a member of the state
and national legislatures, and served with credit and ability in both positions.
He was a ruling elder in the Presbyterian church, and exercised a great influ-
ence in the community in which he lived.

One of the oldest Presbyterian Churches in the southwestern part of
Pennsylvania was located in this township, and is known as the Sewickley
Church. It was one of the original churches of the old Red Stone Presbytery.
It is supposed that it was organized as early as 1776, by Rev. Dr. Power, of
Mt. Pleasant, who was its first pastor, and remained so until 1787. It then
remained vacant for some time, when it was united with Long Run and came
under the pastoral charge of Rev. William Swan, in October, 1793. In 1821
this congregation was united with I\rt. Pleasant, and Rev. A. O. Patterson was
installed and served them until 1834. In April, 1836, Sewickley, having been
separated from ]\It. Pleasant, secured the services of William Anan as their
pastor. He was succeeded by Rev. J. B. McKee in 1842, who in turn gave way
to Rev. Richard Graham, who continued to minister to them until 1850. In

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 569

1852 Rev. Cyrus Rigfgs was installed, and was succeeded later by Rev. J. H.
Stevenson. The original congregation of Sewickley was greatly weakened by
a separate organization which was formed in the town of West Newton. The
present building is the second one built, and is of stone, the original structure
having been of logs. It is situated in South Huntingdon township across the
Sewickley creek, and had its name long before the township was formed or
named. In a burying ground nearby sleep the remains of four generations of
the citizens of this community. Taken all in all it is one of the chief objects of
historic interest in the township, and around it gather many local associations
fraught with great interest to the student. The first building was of logs,
which grew around the space where the church stood. For many years it had
no stove, and the people of the congregation sat shivering from the cold winds
that blew through the open cracks of the church. \Mien they introduced the
first stove it was regarded by some of the old-timers with great suspicion. It
scarcely was a stove, it was merely the lower part of a stove, the bowl part in
which they burned wood, and the smoke was supposed to escape through a hole
in the roof. In the history of old Red Stone Church is a subscription paper
signed by the members of this congregation, and all money subscribed for the
salary of Rev. Mr. Swan. This was when money was scarce and when grain
had scarcely a market value. For the consideration of raising one-half of Rev.
Swan's services as pastor "They agreed to pay the amount set opposite their
names, one-half in cash and the other half in produce, at the following rates,
viz. : wheat, four shillings per bushel : rye, three shillings per bushel ; corn, two
shillings and six pence per bushel, to be delivered at such place or places within
the bounds of the congregation as the said minister, or a treasurer chosen by
the people, should appoint. Witness our hands this 17th day of August, 1792."
The township has eighteen schools, and 831 pupils enrolled.

WEST NEWTOX.

In 1837 a petition was signed by various lot holders in the village of West
Newton praying the court to incorporate their village into a borough accord-
ing to an Act of Assembly passed on the first day of April, 1834. This was
refused by the court on June i, 1838. In 1842 the legislature passed an act, a
section of which related to West Newton, and read as follows : "That so much
of the third section of the Act of the first of April, 1834, entitled 'An Act to
provide for the incorporation of boroughs' as requires applications for the
incorporation of boroughs to be laid before the Grand Jury be, and the same is,
hereby repealed as respects Westmoreland county in the case of the applica-
tion for the incorporation of West Newton in said County, and the Court of
Quarter Sessions of said Court is hereby authorized to incorporate West
Newton into a Borough, on application, at their first term if the said Court
think proper to do so." After the passage of this act the citizens again asked
the court to incorporate them, and on the 26th of February, 1842, tlie court

570

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

granted the ijrayers of the petitioners, and the borough was therefore de-
clared duly incorporated. Jtidge Thomas White was then on the bench. The
first election was held at the school house where the township elections had
been held. By an order of the court of September 3. 1853, the privileges of the
Act of Assembly of the 3rd of April, 1851, were extended to the borough of
West Newton.

The whole valley of the Youghioghney river from ^IcKeesport to Connells-
ville is one continuous hive of industry. It is filled with towns, villages and
hamlets, and manufacturing of almost all kinds is carried on there throughout
the entire district. In addition to this, from almost every hill, coal mines,
shafts, tipples, etc., may be seen in every direction. Added to these are hun-
dreds of coke ovens which continually send forth their volumes of smoke.
This valley is perhaps the busiest in the ccamty.

West Newton is built about half-way between Pittsburgh and Connellsville
and about fifteen miles from the mouth of the Youghiogheny river. It is sit-
uated on a plane at the southwestern base of a hill which rises high above the
floor, a clapboard roof, greased paper windows, and was built in all other wa\-^
fertile agricultural region. It is one of the best and wealthiest of the older
towns in Westmoreland county. The founders of the town of West Xewton
were men of high culture and intellect. Prominent among them were the
Markles, Plumers and Blackburns. They were generally of Scotch-Irish and
Yankee extraction, and at a later period came quite a number of Germans. At
present the population is composed in part of foreigners of almost everv na-
tionality, this being due to its diversified industries.

The town was laid cut in January, 1796, by Isaac Robb. who came from
New Jersey and took up the land upon which it is now built, ^^'hen the army
to quell the Whisky Insurrection in 1794 passed through this section they tore
down Robb's fences, and this aggravated him so that he refused to put them
up again. He thereupon made a lottery and sold off the lots for a town. The
survey and plotting were made by two men named Davis and Xewkirk. The
founder of the town was, therefore. Isaac Robb, who after this became a
trader on the jNIississippi and Ohio rivers, going down with goods as far as
New Orleans. In 1807 his boat lay at ^^'est Xewton, and, when visiting it one
night when the river was rising rapidly, he missed his bearings and fell into the
water and was drowned, although he was said to be a splendid swimmer.
Originally the town had been called West Xewton, but, being founded by jNIr.
Robb, for many years it was universally called Robb's Town in honor of him.
P.ut in 1835, when they began to talk of having the village incorporated, the
original and proper name was restored to it. and by this name it has since been
known. Still farther back, in 1796, the place was known as Simrall's Ferry,
which the reader may liave noticed in the account of the W^hisky Insurrection.

Jonathan Plumer came west as a commissary with General Braddock's
army in 1755, and filled a like position with Forbes' army in 1758, and was

HISTORY OF U'ESTMORELAXD COUNTY.

571

the father of Georo'e Pkinier. of wliom we have spoken as a member of con-
gress ( 1821-27).

The town of \\'est Xewton began to grow abcAit 1806, and from that time
until 1820, when the national road was built, there was a great deal of ship-
ping by keel-boats to Pittsburgh. A\"hen slack-water dams were introduced in
the Youghiogheny river, travel by steamers became quite extensive. The first
steamer to come up that far was the "Tom Shriber." The slack-water naviga-
tion was abandoned because the dams were swept away by high water, it being
difficult to hold them on account of the fall of the river. The Pittsburgk and
Connellsville railroad was opened up and passed West Xewton in 1855. and
this added greatly to the importance of the town.

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The first schoolhouse in West Xewton was built before the beginning of
the last century, and most likely as early as 1795. Its first teacher was a man
named Grim, who was succeeded by ^^'illiam Blackburn, X^athaniel Nesbit,
^^'illiam Baldwin and others. It was a house built of round logs, with a clay
fl'-or, a clapboard roof, greased paper windows, and was built in all other ways
like the school houses of that early period, which have been heretofore de-
scribed. In 1809 a schoolhouse was built on the farm of John Caruthers. and
its first teacher was William Baldwin. A school was taught in the town in
1816 by X. R. Smith. This school was held in a cabin, and when this became
too small the school was removed to the building owned by Colonel James B.

572

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

Oliver. In 1820 the first brick sclioolhoiise in the town was built. It w?.s an
eight-cornered structure, and when finished was the finest schoolhouse in
the county. Its first teacher was N. R. Smith, who afterward became princi-
cipal of the Greensburg Academy. Among the other teachers in this school
house was Edgar Cowan, who afterward became a United States senator from
Pennsylvania. The building is still standing, and is preserved as one of the
heirlooms of a former generation to the present town of West Newtcn. It is
still used as a school building, and the picture given in this work is a true rep-
resentation of it. In 1850, this being found too small, another brick building
was provided on Third street, and used for schools for fifteen years. In 1865
the first ward building was erected. In 1884 more room was demanded, and
another fine building was erected, now known as the Second Ward School.
In the sixties Rev. O. H. Miller conducted a select school, and soon thereafter
George Richey organized an academy, which succeeded well for several years.
In 1894 Reverends Drs. Eaton, Meloy and Garvin opened the West Newton
Academy as a college preparatory, and normal school.

The Methodist Episcopal Church was organized with eleven members on
the 28th day of February, 1839, by the late venerable Rev. Dr. Samuel Wake-
field. This society built a small brick church on Second street, where they
worshipped for nearly forty years. In 1880 they erected their present beauti-
ful edifice. For a more extended sketch of Dr. Wakefield, see chapter on gen-
eral church history.

The Lutheran Church was the first to form a society in West Newton. It
was organized by Rev. Jonas Mechling in January, 1830. For several years
they held services in the eight-cornered schoolhouse built in 1820. In 1835.
as we have said, they joined with the Presbyterians in erecting the building of
which we have spoken. This was used by both societies for seventeen years, at
which time (1852) they sold their interest to the Presbyterians. They ac-
cordingly built an edifice immediately afterward which they occupied until
1899, when they erected their present commodious structure.

Previous to 1835 the Presbyterians of West Newton worshipped at Se-
wickley Church, about three miles distant. In that year they united with the
Lutherans, and the two congregations erected a two-story frame building on
Vine street, the Lutherans owning the one-fourth of it, and to be used by both
churches. On January 8, 1851, a regular church was organized in West New-
ton, most of whose members came from Sewickley church. The same year
they purchased the interest of the Lutherans in the partnership building, and
in 1875 ^ "ew building was begun which was dedicated May 10, 1879. It is a
neat Gothic style edifice costing about $22,000. They organized a Sunday
school over eighty years ago. and both it and the church in general are in a
most flourishing condition.

Bethel Church of God was formed in West Newton in 1845, and in 1852
a small brick church was built near the present one, which was erected in 1879

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 573

and improved in 1884. '"That the pastor may be free from worldly cares and
avocations," ]\Irs. E. ]\Iellender erected and gave to the society a comfortable
parsonage. Among those who have been pillars for a long time in this church
are the names of Obley and Schoaf.

In 1850 the United Presbyterians organized a church with forty-five mem-
bers, and the same year erected a building on \'ine street, afterwards used by
the Baptist people. In 1883 they erected their present church on Main street,
costing $20,000. The Roman Catholic Church was organized in 1884, and a
year later was erected a $3,000 church on Second street. The last church to
organize here was the Baptist Church in May, 1885. Formerly they wor-
shipped at New Salem. In 1896 they built a church, and in 1905 completed
one of a larger and more modern style.

The chief industry of this borough is the United States Radiator and Boiler
Company. It was first established at Saltsburg, but in a few years removed
to West Newton, in 1895. It first occupied the present site of the stove works,
but in 1889 bought the old building of the paper factory, to which have been
added several mcdern structures. Their product is radiators and hot-water
plaite. They employ as high as three hundred and sixty men, and do a
thriving business, selling their goods in almost every part of the Union. The
Standard Stove and Range Works of Pittsburgh own a good-sized plant at this
point, and employ from fifty to seventy-five men. The Roller Flouring Mills
of West Newton do a large business, as does the one in "West Side" of the
town across the river. The railways of the borough are the Baltimore & Ohio,
the Pennsylvania, and the Lake Erie railways. The banking business is in the
hands of the Farmers and ^Merchants' and the First National Banks. West
Newton has one good weekly paper, the Times. A first class planing mill does
a large business in the borough.

The largest industry West Newton has ever possessed was the paper mill
built in 1859 by S. B. and General C. P. Markle, though the business
had been established in 1808. Here paper was produced with rags
until 1865, when straw pulp was employed, and later wood pulp.
In 1880 a structure 329 by 534 feet was built, with the largest and most com-
plete set cf modern machinery found in Pennsylvania. The company met with
loss by three great fires, but rebuilt at once, and continued until General Markle
died, when the plant passed into the hands of a Mr. Parsons of New York,
who carried on the business until 1893, when the machinery was moved to New
England on account of the increasing amount of sulphur found in the formerly
pure water. This was caused from the coal land being worked. Nothing but
the purest of water will admit of good paper making, hence the plant was re-
moved.

The old bridge which spans the river at this place is an old-fashioned
wooden structure built by a company incorporated in 183 1 by Alexander
Plumer, J. C. Plumer, James Bell, Jacob Baughman, Frederick Steiner, An-

574

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

drew Smith, Joseph Stokely and Wihiam Linn. Its original cost was $18,000,
of which the state paid $8,000, and the citizens $10,000. Some years after its
construction the sherif? of the county was directed to sell the state's interest at
auction. As no one ciitside seemed to take any interest in the matter, the en-
terprising stockholders bought up the shares, which were worth about fift}-
dollars at that time, for from five to seven dollars each. About 1890 the county
bought out the compan_\- and made it a free bridge.

EAST HUXTIXGDOX TOWNSHIP.

East Huntingdon township \\as formed by a division of the original Hunt-
ingdon township, and was taken from South Huntingdon township in 1798.
Efforts had been made to have this township formed in 1794. It is bounded
on the north by Hempfield township ; on the east by ]\It. Pleasant township ;
on the south by Fayette ccimty, and on the west by South Huntingdon town-
ship. The township is almost entirely underlaid with a rich and productive
seam of bituminous coal.

The first settlers in the township were Scutch-Irish who came from the
eastern part of Pennsylvania. Among them were John \'ance, a magistrate for
many years ; William and Franklin Vance, and the Fosters, Barrs, Cochrans,
McClains and McCormicks. After these first settlers, that is about 1800, came
many Germans belonging to the IMennonite church, who also came from the
eastern part of the state. They were thrifty farmers and brought with them
good supplies of live stock and farming implements. They purchased much
of the land that had formerly been owned by the Scotch-Irish pioneers, and
opened up many new tracts which had not yet been purchased from the state.
These settled largely between Stonerville and the Fayette county line. It is
estimated that the members of this one denomination owned twenty-five thous-
and acres of land near and surrounding Stonerville. Among their leading men
were such names as Overholt, Funk, Staufifer, ^^'elty, Dillinger, Strohm, Ruth,
Shupe, Sherrick Loucks, Mumaw, Stoner, Fretts, Fox, etc., many of whose
descendants are yet residents of this community. The Lutheran and Re-
formed settlers were located mostly in the northwestern jiart of the township.
Among them were Alark Leighty, Henry Lowe, Henry Null, Joseph Suter,
Nicholas Swope, and also the Altmans, Klines. Harbaughs. Ruffs. Snyders,
Hunkers, etc.

One of the oldest families in the township is the Stauft'er family, and it has
given its name to Stauffer's run, a stream which flows from near Stonerville
and empties into Jacob's creek near Scottdale. Abraham Stauft'er came from
Bucks county, and settled near Scottdale. He died July 9, 185 1.

.Another early family were the Sterretts, who resided near Scottdale. They
were related to Daniel Boone, the first settler of Kentucky. Boone once came
to this region and passed several days visiting his relatives, the Sterretts, in
their cabin home in the southwestern part of tlx" countv.

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 373

The early schools of this township were similar to those of all other local-
ities in the county. One of the first schoolhouses was built in 1802, on the
Gaut fami, and the school was taught by a German named Leighty. Other
early teachers were John Selby and Peter Showalter. The township took early
action with regard to the free school s\-stem. They held an election at the house
of Peter Pool, on September 19, 1834, at which they elected Jacob Tinsman,
Jacob Overholt, Solomon Luter, Peter Pool, Gasper Tarr and Henry Fretts
as directors. These directors met at the house of Christian Fox, on October
6, 1834. After they had organized they appointed Jacob Tinsman as a dele-
gate to meet othei* delegates in Greensburg on the first Tuesday of November
in order that a general system of education might be established in the
county. A vote of the citizens was taken at the house of Peter Pool, on May,
21, 1836, to decide whether school tax should be levied or not, seventy-four of
them voting against tax. and two voting for tax. Nevertheless, the schools
were kept open from 1834 until 1837, and directors were elected each year.
Another election was then ordered to determine whether the schools should be
continued or not. This election was also held at the house of Peter Pool, on the
first Tuesday of ]\Iay. 1837. at which fifty-six voted for no schools and thirty-
four voted for schools, but the law required that in order to defeat the system
a majority of the citizens in the district must vote against it, and fifty-six not
being by any means a majority of all in the district, the system was adopted
by a minority vote. Shortly after this the school directors divided the town-
ship into districts and began to erect school houses, and the township has since
advanced to one of the leading townships in the county in educational matters.

The Lutheran and Zion's Reformed Church is located about four miles
southwest of Mt. Pleasant, and was organized in 1789, but it kept no records
that are accessible prior to 1822. The first structure was a log house, and a
brick house on the opposite side of the road was built on land of Jacob Leighty
in 1862. It has since been improved, and is even yet a comfortable building.
This church was organized by Rev. John William \\'eber. They were after-
wards ministered to by Revs. W'einel. \'oight, Keafauver, S. K. Levan, C. C.
Russell, J. A. Peters, A. J. Heller, D. P. Lady and others. Rev. Weinel took
charge in 1817, and continued pastor until 1823. Thev were often preached to
also by Rev. X. P. Hacke. of Greensburg.

The Methodist Episconal Church was organized in 1817, in a log structure
erected the same year, and it was the only meeting house of this denomination
in all that section of the country. The present brick structure was built dur-
ing the Civil war, on the site of the old church, and is near Scottdale.

The Presbyterian Church at Scottdale was organized in 1874 by Rev. John
McMillan. The Trinity Reformed Church was organized July 20, 1873. by
Rev. J. B. Leasure. The L'nited Brethren Church was organized in 1874, when
they built a neat frame structure, which has since been razed to the ground
and supplanted by a very beautiful edifice with a parsonage under the same

576 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

roof. The Baptist Church of Scottdale was organized April 17, 1875, with
Rev. T. Hugus as pastor. The United Presbyterian Church was the first
church organized in the new town of Scottdale.

In the town of Stonerville the ^Nlennonites and the Church of God 'have
each old places of worship, and although they have not held their own with
other churches in members they are, nevertheless, a most respectable and re-
ligious element in the community.

This township has thirty-two schools, with an enrollment of 1916 pupils.

SCOTTDALE.

The town of Scottdale owes its existence to the building of the South-West
Pennsylvania railroad, in 1873. At that time the site of the present borough
was productive farm land. The town was laid out by the late Peter S. Loucks
and Jacob S. Loucks, and their sister Catharine. The place was named in
honor of Colonel Thomas A. Scott, one cf the early presidents of the Pennsyl-
vania Railroad Company. The projectors of the town evidently did not ex-
pect it to grow and flourish as it has done, for Peter S. Loucks laid out but
fourteen lots, and his brother Jacob but ten. The first lots were sold in the
fall of 1872 at about one hundred and fifty dollars each, and were seventy-two
by one hundred fifty feet. Originally there was a flouring mill and a distillery
located at this place, at which time it was known as Fountain Mills.

The present population of Scottdale borough is fairly estimated at 6,000,
and with the surrounding community, this would probably be increased to
10,000. The newspapers of the borough are the Scottdale Nczvs, Scottdale
Independent and the Observer. The first paper in Scottdale was the Tribune,
founded by L N. Newcomer, January, 1880.

The first school building in the borough was a one-roomed brick house,
which was built by the directors of East Huntingdon township in i860, and
used by them for school purposes until the borough was incorporated. The
rapid growth of the town required more school room, and the contract was let
March 8, 1878, for a four-roomed brick building, the contract price being
$5,200. Li the summer of 1889 a contract was let for a ten-roomed brick school
building, which still is occupied. Li May, 1896, a contract was let for an eight-
roomed building to stand on the school lot at the head cf Pittsburgh street.
This cost $14,000.

Scottdale became an incorporated borough, February, 1874. The post-
office of Fountain Mills was located here, and this was the grain market for a
large territory for many years. The banking business of the borough at pres-
ent is represented by the Broadway National Bank, First National Bank,
Scottdale Savings and Trust Company, and the Scottdale Bank.

Concerning the iron industry it may be said that among the large plants of
the place is the Cast Iron Pipe Works, which is claimed to be the largest in
America. They are a part of the American Tubing Company, hence no de-
tailed account can be obtained from their local manager.

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 577

The Tin Plate Works of the American Sheet and Tin Plate Company,
which operates at a number of points in Westmoreland county, have a large
plant at Scottdale. It is at present equipped with nine sheet mills, and has an
annual production capacity of twenty-five thousand gross tons. The number
of men employed in these works is four hundred.

The Pocket Knife FactCTv is another important industry. What was
known as the F. A. Black Company was incorporated November 22, 1904, with
$100,000 capital. The ofificers are: F. A. Black, president; A. B. Loucks, vice-
president; J. R. Loucks, secretary and treasurer. This concern occupies a
brick building having twenty thousand square feet of floor surface. One hun-
dred persons are employed in the various departments.

The Scottdale Foundry and Machine Company is an extensive factory. It
was established in 1880 by Hill & Kenny as a foundry and machine shop, em-
ploying about twenty-five men, and did a business of forty thousand dollars
per annum. In 1884 j\Ir. Hill withdrew and A. K. Stauffer was taken as a
partner, the firm being known as Kenny & Company. The works were greatly
enlarged, and they engaged in building steam engines. In 1890 they were del-
ing an annual business of $125,000. In 1891 the plant was destroyed by fire,
and at once a new stock company was formed with A. K. Staufifer as presi-
dent ; E. L. Rutherford, vice-president ajid secretary ; Walter L. Stauffer,
treasurer. Among the other directors are E. A. Humphrey, Worth Kilpatrick,
Robert Skemp, B. F. Stauft, John Dick and J. R. Smith.

A large brass foundry, with which W. F. Staufifer is connected, is cue of
the latest industries of the place.

The United States Casket Company, chartered 1904, with $100,000 capital,
began operations January, 1905. The plant is operated by electric power.
Twenty-seven men are employed, making twenty caskets per day, or about
seven thousand annually. These goods are sold to undertakers direct in West-
ern Pennsylvania, Virginia and Ohic. They make only wooden and copper-
lined caskets, with trimmings for the same. The officers of this company are :
Albert H. Kelley, president; Wesley Kelley, first vice-president; John Mar-
shall, second vice-president; William Ferguson, superintendent. Other in-
dustrial plants of the borough are the Litho-]\Iarble Works, and planing and
flouring mills. The borough has a good system of waterworks, electric and
gas plants, constructed about 1889.

The Peterson Businesss College was established in 1903 by P. O. Peterson.
The first class, numbering forty-five, was graduated June, 1904.

The First Presbyterian Church of Scottdale was organized May 15, 1874.
Their present beautiful cream-colored pressed brick church edifice was dedi-
cated in 1898. The Baptist Church was organized by Rev. David Williams,
April 17, 1875, with thirteen members. They dedicated their first church in
1876, and remodeled it in the autumn of 1893. I" 1884 the Scottdale Methodist
Episcopal Church was organized with one hundred and fifty members. At a
cost of $42,000 in 1891, thev dedicated a church which is one of the finest
37

578 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

edifices in Westmoreland county. It stands on the site of the old building, and
is provided with a fine toned pipe organ. The present membership is about
seven hundred. Rev. C. L. E. Cartwright has been the pastor for the past
six years. The United Brethren's present church was erected in 1889, and
has one of the three pipe organs of the borough. This building is a massive
modern red brick structure. This church was organized in 1870. The First
Episcopal Church met in 1892 in a church building on the Fayette side of the
creek. One of the projectors of the church was Major Knapp. The first
regular rector was J. H. Hargrave. The United Presbyterian Church was or-
ganized in connection with the branch at Mt. Pleasant, in 1873. In 1882 they
erected a building on ]\Iulberry street. The iMennonite congregation at this
point is part of the Mice numerous body that worshipped at Alverton and
Pennsville, and was organized here in 1893. They used the German language
almost exclusively in their worship until the last twenty-five years. The
Trinity Reformed Church of Scottdale was organized July, 1873. The corner
stone of the church was laid November 9, 1873, by Rev. J. M, Feitzell. The
first pastor was Rev. L. B. Leasure. This congregaticn is among the most
flourishing of the borough. The other denominations here represented are the
Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Protestant Episcopal, Christian, African Methodist
Episcopal, and Polish Catholic.

The borough of Scottdale has nineteen schools, with an enrollment of 940
pupils.

CHAPTER XLIII

Allegheny Township.— Vandergrift.—Vandergrift Heights.— Ligonier Township.- Ligon-
ier Borough.

Allegheny township was organized in 1796. and received its name from the
river which formed its northwestern boundary. Its first officers were Ezekiel
INIatthews and John Leslie, who were road supervisors, while Thomas Reed
Avas its first constable. The northern part of the township is underlaid with
the Pittsburgh seam of coal, and also with the upper and lower Freeport seams.
The whole of the township is particularly well suited for agricultural pur-
ine ses. The soil is naturally fertile and is susceptible to a high state of culti-
vation. It is dotted over with fine residences and well kept farms. The vil-
lage of Lucesco is at the northern point of the county, and at the confluence of
the Kiskiminetas and Allegheny rivers. The Allegheny valley and the West
Pennsylvania railroads also pass at this place, the former running along the
northwestern and the latter along the eastern boundaries of the township.
These afford abundant means of transportation for both its coal products and
its inhabitants.

Among the original settlers were the Stewarts, who came in 1790, the
Leechburgs in 1791 ; William and John Watts in 1801 ; then came the Dimmits,
Zimmermans, Hills, Cochrans, Hawks, all between that and 1800. The Bakers,
Butlers, Alters, Wilsons, Lauflfers, Longs, Trouts, Jacksons, McClellands, Gar-
rotts, Dodds, I\IcKees, Copelands, Lynches, Armstrongs, Ashbaughs, Town-
sends, Steels and McElroys all came before 1828. William Watt was born
near Chambersburg in 1781, and died March 5, 1855. This township from its
northern location bordering on the two rivers which divided the Indian coun-
try from that which was being rapidl\- settled about the time of the Revolution-
ary war. was peculiarly subjected to the outrages of the Indians north of the
river. It was near here that Massy Harbison lived, and from her home was
taken a prisoner and most brutally treated by the Indians. We have not
thought it proper to include her story in this work for the reason that when
captured she lived across the border line.

The common schools were in rather a deplorable condition in Allegheny
township in 1834, when the first school law was enacted. There were but few

58o HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

districts, and the houses were all built of logs with cnly rude slabs for seats,
scarcely any of which had backs to support the pupils. All other appliances
of the school and houses compared with this, but the schools even then were
large, often numbering over one hundred pupils. Like all pioneer schools, a
rigid discipline was enforced by free use of the rod. Until the teacher treated
the scholars with the approach of the holiday season he was generally held in
low esteem by the pupils. Female teachers were not employed until after
1834; in fact, a girl teacher anywhere in the county prior to that time was
scarcely thought of. The early teachers had little or no system of education,
yet many of the pupils became good spellers, and frequently in these rude
schools a pupil laid the foundation upon which was afterwards built a thorough
education. Among the prominent teachers of that day were Samuel Owens,
Luther Bills, George Crawford, Robert Jefifrey, Samuel McConnell and Wil-
son Sproull. If a young man desired to teach school he would first apply to a
member of the committee, and if his appearance warranted an examination he
was referred to some learned man in the community, who, after asking him a
few simple questions, generally pronounced him qualified to teach, and he en-
tered at once upon his duties. The wages paid a teacher were rarely ever less
than ten dollars per month, and perhaps never over twenty dollars. Among
the leading men of the township who took a great interest in education as citi-
zens were James Fitzgerald, George Bovard, John Artman and others. They
labored hard to advance the cause of education, and yet there were many who
labored with equal zeal in opposition to the common school system about the
time of its adoption. The mode of teaching advanced slowly. Such a gather-
ing as a Teachers' Institute was never dreamed of, and the directors at first
refused to allow the school houses to be used for that purpose. In 1844 a pub-
lic debating society was held in what was then called Crawford's schoolhouse,
and considerable interest was manifested in it. In 185 1 an academy, or select
school, was started at Lober's schoolhouse, or. rather, where Leber's school
house now stands. The teachers were A. S. Thomas and David McKee. They
were an improvement over the average teacher, and accomplished much good
in the township. The text-books of that day were the Bible, a spelling book
and the "Western Calculator."

The Pine Run Presbyterian Church was organized by the renowned Dr.
David Kirkpatrick and a man named Bristol. At first it had about fifty-five
members and four elders, and was reported to the Presbytery in 1847. For
some time it was supplied by Rev. Andrew McElwain until 1851, when Rev.
S. T. Leason became its pastor for half the time. He remained with them
until January; 1855. After this for two years it depended on supplies, and in
1857 Rev. Robert McMillan, a grandson of the renowned Dr. jMcMillan, the
patriarch of Presbyterianism in Western Pennsylvania, became its pastor for
half the time. He was a most humble, energetic and upright man, and labored
with great success in the community until 1864. when his resignation was ac-
cepted on account of his failing health. He was followed by Rev. John Orr,

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY

581

^vho proved a worthy successor to Rev. 3ilc]\lillan, and remained with them
until 1872. The United Presbyterian Church is situated about one-fourth of a
mile from the junction of the Kiskiminetas and Allegheny rivers, and was
founded about 1873. The Reformed congregation was organized in 1832, at
Brookland Church. The first building was a log one, but this was replaced by
a brick structure in 1856. Rev. Hugh Walkinshaw was its first pastor, serving
from 1832 until 1843. He was succeeded by Rev. Oliver Wylie, and after him
came Rev. Robert Reid.

This township has fifteen schools, with 470 pupils enrolled.

\-.\XDERGRIFT.

That highclass trade jcurnal, the Iron Age, in 1901 styled Vandergrift
"The Working ]Man's Paradise." Aside from Pullman, Illinois, Vandergrift
is one of the most strikingly unique places on an American map. It is thirty-
eight miles from Pittsburgh, up the Allegheny and Kiskiminetas rivers, on the
\^■est Pennsylvania railroad, and was plotted on a four hundred acre tract of
farm land purchased by the Apollo Iron and Steel Company several years
prior to its being plotted. Captain J. J. Vandergrift, a heavy stockholder in
the Apollo Company, and a resident of Pittsburgh, v^^as at the head of this
gigantic enterprise, and from him the place derived its name. What is known
as the Vandergrift Land and Improvement Company was formed with George
G. McjMurtry as its president. The platting of a town site with the iron in-
dustry back of it, and the point at which the Apollo Company had determined
upon as being the future home for their immense works, second to none in the
country, was executed in 1895-96. The plan of the place was carefully made
(after an extensive tour of inspection by those interested through the great
factory districts of Europe) by Frederick Law Olmsted, who was the architect
and landscape gardener of the great World's Fair at Chicago. The streets and
blocks are circular in form, no streets or avenues crossing at right angles, but
on a gentle curve. The town stands on a charming table-land, while its ad-
junct borough, Vandergrift Heights, occupies the hillside. It was platted, its
streets paved with brick of the most lasting grade, its sewerage and water
pipes all laid, grades all established and worked, before a single lot was sold.
When the work had been completed the Land Company announced, "We are
ready to sell lots. We have waited until the place is ready. Now you can
judge situations and buy intelligently, and the town will be ready to live in
as soon as you are ready to live there. You can build at once — the sooner the
better."

The steel works opened for operation in September, 1896. May 8th, the
same year, at the public sale of lots, 276 were sold at not less than twenty-five
cents per square foot for residence, and seventy-five-cenis per square foot for
business lots. The total sales amounted to $275,013. The place was incor-
porated as a borough in 1896. The burgesses have been : H. W. Nichols, who
served eight days ; Oscar Lindquist, serving two years ; Joseph Dougherty,

582 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

serving but two weeks. George A. Hunger was appointed and served about
three years, was then elected and is still in office. A postoffice was established
in 1896, with H. W. Nichols as postmaster. He was succeeded by H. W.
Hamilton, the present postmaster. The first building erected on the plot, aside
from the original farm he-uses, was the warehouse of George A. Hunger, which
he still occupies. He commenced work on it May 13, 1896. The borough is
provided with excellent water coming from artesian wells along the adjacent
hillsides. It is furnished by a private water company, as is also gas and elec-
tric light.

The first term of school taught here was by Professor Clarke. The first
school house was erected in 1896, costing $20,000. It now has two first-class
buildings in Vandergrift proper, w'hile at the "Heights" there are two others.

The Lutherans were the first in the field in way of church organization.
They dedicated a building in 1897. Then came these: Methodist Episcopal,
dedicated in 1897; Presbyterian, United Presbyterian, Reformed, Catholic and
Baptist, dedicated April, 1905. The following shows the churches worshipping
in Vandergrift in 1905 : Methodist Episcopal, Grafton T. Reynolds, D. D., pas-
tor; Episcopal Mission, Rev. Thomas Lloyd, rector; Presbyterian, Rev. H. R.
Johnson, pastor ; Free Methodist, Rev. C. L. Wright, pastor ; St. Paul's Lu-
theran (Vandergrift Heights) Rev. George Beiswanger, pastor; First Re-
formed, Rev. D. Snider Stephan, pastor; First United Presbyterian, Rev.
Curtis R. Stevenson, pastor; First Baptist, Rev. Alexander Wilding, pastor;
Free Methodist (Vandergrift Heights) Rev. C. L. Wright, pastor.

It should here be recorded and placed to the credit of the sometimes called
"soulless corporations" that the Land Company made good their proposition on
opening up the town, that they would donate a. lot and give one-half the cost
of the first churches erected if none so erected should cost less than $15,000.
Hence, at the beginning, Vandergrift church architecture set the pace for fine
edifices, several of which in point of magnificence and cost are not surpassed, if
indeed equaled, in the entire county. Another exceptional feature of their
splendid buildings is the fact that each has provided itself with an up-to-date
pipe organ.

Nearly every civic and fraternal society, order and lodge extant, is here
represented by strong organizations. The only newspaper of the borough is
the Citizen, a strictly non-partisan paper, published each Saturday by E. H.
Welsh, editor.

The Casino, a grand structure used for playhouse and general public as-
sembly purposes, stands in a most commanding position, and was erected in
1891 at a cost of $32,000, of which sum $14,000 was given by the Steel Plant
Company in way of stock purchased, and the remainder by other local men.
It contains a library of three thousand volumes, and is the pride of every citi-
zen of the place.

The banking business thus far has been conducted by one concern — the
Vandergrift Savings and Trust Company — with a working capital of $130,000.

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 583

The Commercial College of the borough is an excellent training school for those
expecting to enter business pursuits. The population of \"andergrift proper in
1905 was about 4,000, while the combined population of Vandergrift and ad-
juncts is about 8,000.

But we have yet to speak of the life-giving force of the borough — the bus-
iness element, without which this splendid array of phenomenal growth and
success would be impossible — the great steel plant of the American Sheet and
Tin Plate Company, the extensive works of which cover many acres of ground,
and whose furnace fires never go out, yet no work is performed on the Sab-
bath. This may truly be called one of America's model manufacturing plants,
wherein reigns the element of sobriety, intelligence and wonderful business
thrift. The records given by the corporation itself shows the following : It is
the largest plant of its kind in the world. The average age of its great force
of workmen is thirty-two years. It is strictly a "Free non-union" concern,
where '"union rules" are never tolerated. It became a part of the American
Sheet Steel Company, May, 1900, and June i, 1904. merged into the American
Sheet and Tin Plate Company. At this point the company now has nine open
hearth furnaces, one continuous blooming and bar mill ; twenty-nine sheet mills
and twenty galvanizing pots. The annual product capacity is about 145 gross
tons of finished sheets. The number of men employed, as per pay roll, is
2,200. At the Hyde Park plant of this company the equipment consists of
five sheet mills, with an annual product capacity of $15,500 gross tons. The
number of men employed is two hundred. Every known safeguard is provided
for the workmen, and the most rigid sanitary rules are enforced. The spacious
grounds remind the passerby of a beautifully cared for college campus, for the
hillside, sloping up from the shops toward the town proper, is a perfect lawn
and flower garden, upon which the toiling workingmen may ever and anon
glance and enjoy. It has fifteen schools, with 596 pupils enrolled.

VANDERGRIFT HEIGHTS.

A separate borough from Vandergrift proper was platted on the hillside to
the south from the latter place, soon after the steel company established Van-
dergrift. It was incorporated as a borough December 8, 1897. The chief ob-
ject was to afford workingmen cheaper building sites and locations where lot
owners might make their own improvements as they felt able ; hence this por-
ticn, usually called the "Heights," does not show the up-to-date improve-
ments found on every hand in the original town. The Heights are situated
about one mile distant, and intervening is a beautiful level plateau which is de-
signed for building the two places together when the increase of population
requires it. At Vandergrift Heights there are two churches — the Free Meth-
odist, a frame building, and the Lutheran, a brick structure ; the latter has a
pipe organ and a good parsonage.

In 1898 the first school was taught on the plat after the town had been laid
out, in a frame schoolhouse owned bv the countrv district before the existence

584 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

of the village ; to this was built an addition equal in size to the original struc-
ture. This, with a modern brick schoolhouse erected in 1891, gives a total
of ten school rooms in the borough. The general business of the place consists
in the retail trade to its inhabitants, many of whom find employment in the
shops and various works at Vandergrift. It has ten schools, with 512 pupils
enrolled.

LIGONIER TOWNSHIP.

As the reader has seen in the former part of the work, no name in the
early history of Westmoreland is more prominent than that of Ligonier. It was
■originally the name of the fort built under the direction of Henry Bouquet, but
really by Captain Burd, and named after Sir John Ligonier, a great English
general in European wars. Since then the town, which was founded in 1817,
has taken the name of the fort, and the name of Ligonier has also been given to
the valley lying between the Chestnut Ridge and Laurel Hill.

The township of Ligonier was erected in 1822. That part of the township
which lies close to the ridge ct mountain is hilly and is of little value for agri-
cultural purposes. For the last thirty years it has yielded a great deal of lum-
ber, and lately stone quarries have been opened both on the mountain and
ridge, from which have been taken a great deal of valuable material. The in-
terior of the valley is richer in agricultural wealth, and its diversified surface is
well adapted to grazing and the production of all kinds of grain and vegetables.
There are many streams, which in the southern part flow into the Loyalhanna,
and in the northern part flow into the Conemaugh river. The northern part
of the valley is underlaid with the Pittsburgh seam of coal, which has a thick-
ness of from six to eight feet, and the. upper and lovi^er Freeport veins underlie
most of the valley. The Loyalhanna is a stream of great beauty, and around
it cluster many historical incidents. Its praises have been sung by many writ-
ers, and the story of our western border can not be told without its frequent
mention. Its first considerable tributary is the California Furnace run, which
flows into it about three miles south of Ligonier. Its second is the Washing-
ton Furnace, or Laughlinstown run, which flows into the Loyalhanna about two
miles south of Ligonier. Northwest of Ligonier are Mill creek, Two Mile run,
Four Mile run, and west of Youngstown it receives the Nine and the Fourteen
Mile runs. These streams appear on the earliest maps, and were probably
named by General Forbes' army in 1758. Each one is designated by the estim-
ated number of miles it is distant from Fort Ligonier ; thus, the Two Mile run
enters the Loyalhanna about two miles from the fort, and the Four Mile run
about four miles from the fort, etc. A large majority of the early settlers in
this valley located along these streams. The name Loyalhanna, according to
the best authority, is derived from an Indian word — La-el-han-neck, and means
Middle creek. If this derivation be correct, it probably took its name from
its location between the Youghiogheny and the Conemaugh rivers. It was

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 585

known to the French and Indians by this name before the arrival of Forbes'
army.

Fort Ligonier was partly built in 1758, as a temporary protection against
the Indians, and against the French and Indians should they come from Fort
Duquesne and attack the army at that place. This was done, as has been seen
in the earlier part of this work, the battle being fought October 12, 1758, at
Ligonier. General Forbes arrived in Ligonier on the 6th of November, 1758,
and Washington had arrived about the first. The army, as we have seen, then
moved en to Fort Duquesne, and on their return a detachment was left at Fort
Ligonier. It was this detachment which finished the fort. They had also gar-
risoned Fort Duquesne (now Fort Pitt) and a line of communication with
Bedford and Carlisle had to be kept open. Those who remained at Fort Lig-
onier were attacked with a strange fatality that winter, and the greater number
of them died. For a time there had been nearly seven thousand men, with
hundreds of horses and cattle, at the fort, and it was claimed that the water
was infected, even covered with a scum, it is said. Their death was probably
due to this and to the want of proper food.

All traces of the fort are long since obliterated, though they were visible
in 1842, as a writer from Somerset indicates in a letter to his home paper.
JNIany implements used in the fort have been dug up on the ground where it
stood. Mr. Cyrus T. Long made a survey from the original draft in the British
war office, and was able to locate it exactly.

The following letter written by Colonel Henry Bouquet to Captain James
Burd relative to the Ligonier encampment is taken from the original, in the
possession of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. Bouquet, it will be re-
membered, was a Swiss by birth, and was not thoroughly at home in the use of
the English language : "Locus," to be cut for the horses, has puzzled Philadel-
phia antiquarians a great deal. He probably meant a "place," and, not know-
ing the English word, used the Latin, which is "locus."

Sir: You are to march from Reastown Camp the 23, Aug. with the R. A. R., Fifth
Highlander Battlie, 5 companies. Your own Battlie, One division of artillery. Intrench-
ing tools, waggons, loaded with provisions. You are to proceed to Loyal Hannon, leav-
ing your waggons where the road is not open with orders to join you with all possible
expedition.

When the three days' provisions taken by your men are consumed (they are served
for the 25th inclusive) you will take provisions out of the waggons of your convoy, and
make them carry part of the other waggons load. The horses are to be tyed every night
upon the mountain as they would otherwise be lost. Locus is to be cut for them. They
could perhaps be left loose at Edmund's swamp and Kickeny Pawlins.

Lieut. Chew with a party are to be detached from the top of the Allegheny to recon-
noitre in a straight line the ground between that place and the Gap of Lawrell Hill —
he is to. cross that gap — observing the course of the water and the path, and is to join
the detachment at L. H.

All the detachments of the R. A. R. those of the 5 companys of Highlanders and
your own battalion are to march with you to Loyal H. with 3 or 4 days provisions for
tlie whole. Col. Stephens is to march with and his six companies. At the place where

586 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

you leave tlie Artillery and waggons, your men are to carry the tools themselves, pack-
ing on the horses the saws, grindstones etc. You are to employ all the pack horses of
the first Battlie and those that you may find on the road to carry your provisions until
the waggons come to you, and load the 5 barrels of cartridges. Drive also some bullocks.
As soon as you arrive at L. H. Mr. Basur is to lay out your encampment at the place
assigned by Mr. Rhor with two small redoubts at 200 yards ; all hands are then to be-
employed in entrenching the camp. Those who have no tools will pitch the tents, cook,
—and the rest relieve one another in the work. Before night the ground must be recon-
noitred, and your advance guards posted. The centrys are to relieve every hour in the
night, without noise. No drum is to be beat as long as you judge that the post has not
been reconnoitered by the enemy. Suffer (in the beginning chiefly) no hunters or strag-
glers, to prevent their being taken— no gun to be fired. A store house of izo feet long,
and at the least 25 feet wide is to be built immediately to lodge your provisions and am-
munition in the place where the fort is to be erected and covered with shingles.

All the artificers are to be put to work — the sawyers and shingle makers with the
smiths first — an hospital is to be built near the fort, and ovens. Mr. Rohr is to give
directions for the fort. If there is any possibility of making hay, no time is to be lost
and the clear grounds are to be kept for that use, and not serve for pasture. Send proper
people to reconnoitre where sea coal could be got — if there is none, charcoal must be-
made. The houses of the officers to be kept clean. The ammunition and arms carefully
inspected, the arms loaded with a running ball. Tools to be delivered to each party upon
receipt of their commanding officer, who is to see them returned to the trenches before
night. The entrenchment is to be divided by tasks, and all the officers are to inspect the
works. If you send any party forward, do not permit them to take scalps, which serves
only to make the enemy more vigilant. No party is to be sent until you hear fron*
Major Armstrong and Captain Shelby. It would perhaps be proper to change every
day the place of your advanced posts. Secure all avenues. If any difficulty should occur
to you, consult Major Grant whose experience and perfect knowledge of the service you
may rely on.

I give the above instructions by way of memorandum, and you are at liberty to make-
any alterations that your judgment and circumstances may direct. Let me hear from
you every two days. You know that some of the provincial officers are not vigilant upon
guard. Warn them every day. They could ruin all our affairs. Keep a journal of your
proceedings.

I am, Sir, your most Obt. servant, Henry Bouquet.

The Old State Road, coming from Somerset county into Westmoreland,
crossed the line of the present Greensburg and Stoystown turnpike from the
northern side, on the eastern slope of Laurel Hill, and came over the crest of
the mountain at its highest point south of the turnpike. It then came down the
mountain through Laughlinstown, and crossed the Loyalhanna, below the
Moore brick house. The stones used in the abutments of the bridge can still
be seen in the stream at Mr. Frank Shafer's fields. It then went slantingly
up the hill south of the Shook farm house and crossed the line of road leading
from Ligonier to Donegal at the Albright farm house, about one mile south of
Ligonier. I\Iost of the road between the Loyalhanna and the Donegal road is
yet in use. From the main road it passed over the bluff to the present farm
house of A. M. Karns. This part of the road was vacated some years ago, but
its route can easily be seen in the fields. About midway between the Albright
;m,l Karns residences, Colonel John Ramsev built a large frame house which

HISTORY OF JVESTMORELAXD COUNTY. 587

was used as a tavern stand in the early part of last century. In 1833 it and the
farm surrounding it was sold by William Ross to David Boucher. The State
road then led up towards Withrow's, after which it joined the Forbes road and
passed over Chestnut Ridge towards Youngstown and Greensburg. This was.
the route over which the trains of heavily laden pack-horses plodded their
weary way. It was in those days the main route between the East and the-
West, and remained without a rival till the building of the present turnpike in
1817. It was then that John Ramsey laid out the town of Ligonier.

The building of the state read, the turnpike, with its stage coaches, wagons,,
etc., the iron furnace industry of Ligonier valley, have necessarily been con-
sidered in the general history of the county, and need not be repeated here.

When the town of Ligonier was laid out, its foimder, among other things-
donated a square upon which to construct a court house, if Ligonier Valley
ever became a separate county with Ligonier as its county seat. For nearly
fifty years after, the question of fcrming such a county was agitated. It was
kept alive by politicians who, in order to secure votes in that section, promised
if elected, to favor a bill erecting the new county.

In 1841 a public meeting was called at the house of John Elliott, in West
Fairfield, for the purpose of inaugurating the movement, and expressing the
sentiments of the people relative to it. The meeting was very largely attended
by prominent people from all parts of the proposed new county. In the same
week a similar meeting was held in Donegal, at the house of Abraham Brugh.
The Donegal meeting was held on Friday, February 19, 1841.

The Fairfield meeting was called to CTder by electing Colonel John Moor-
head as president : Colonel Amos Ogden, William Graham, Esq., Hugh Ken-
nedy, John Kirker, Robert Donaldson, William Huston, Robert McDowell and
Jacob Covode vice-presidents, and Samuel P. Cummins and Andrew Graham
secretaries. The president appointd fifteen persons to draft resolutions.
Among these were John Covode, John Hill, Joseph Moorhead, Colonel John
^IcFarland, and others. They prepared resolutions setting forth that the town-
ships in the valley and Salt Lick township in Fayette county were from eigh-
teen to forty miles distant from county seats, and cut off from the other parts
of the counties by Chestnut Ridge, and thus rendered very difficult for their
citizens to attend court, etc., in fact impossible to reach their ccamty seats on
IMonday morning without traveling on the Sabbath day. They had, the petition:
said, from nine to twelve thousand population, which was rapidly increasing.
They set forth also that, if these townships were cut off from the counties of"
Fayette and Westmoreland, the county seats, Uniontown and Greensburg,.
would still be and remain about the center of their respective counties. They
recite that large petitions have been presented to the legislature asking for the
erection of the proposed county, etc. They therefore urge their members of
the legislature, Alessrs. Plunier, Hill, and Johnston, to pass the necessary legis-
lation at once.

At the Donegal meeting, Killian Ambrose was elected president, and Joseph

588

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

Moorehead, Robert Graham, C. Hubbs, John ]May and Jacob Hoffer were
elected vice-presidents, while Henry Ostler and John Gay were elected secre-
taries. They appointed a committee which drafted resolutions which set forth
that the people of the proposed new ccimty were the ones who should be con-
sulted, and, whereas they regarded the scheme before the legislature as a "wild
scheme," to which the citizens of Donegal were violently opposed, and that its
projectors were actuated by selfish motives, they therefore urged the members
■of the legislature to oppose the erection of the ccunty of Ligonier with all their
power, etc., etc. The published account says that Mr. Graham, one of the vice-
presidents, withdrew from the meeting and would not sign the proceedings.
These proceedings are published at length in the Greensburg papers of Feb-
ruary 26, 1841. The defeat cf the project was blamed on Donegal, and it was
many years before they were forgiven for opposing it. Several times
.after that the matter was brought up again, when the valley townships unitedly
asked for the new county. But the building of railroads made it easier for the
citizens to reach the county seats, and we believe the project has not been con-
templated seriously for over forty years, and will probably never be heard of
.again.

The following announcement concerning a proposed fox-hunt is taken from
The Ligonier Free Press of Thursday, February 26, 1846:

"Turn out, Turn out, to the Latest and greatest Grand Circular Fox Hunt. Accord-
•ing to previous notice a number of the citizens of Ligonier township met at Hermitage
school-house where the following arrangements were proposed and unanimously adopted
for -conducting a grand circular fox hunt, to close on the farm of John McConaughey
Esq. 2 miles northeast of Ligonier, on Saturday the 7th day of March.

Grand Marshal, dr. george b. fundenberg. Aids — Jacob Reed, Joseph Naugle, Esq.
Col. Joseph Nicewonger, Robert McConaughey, John Clifford, Esq., Benj. Park Esq, and
Samuel A. Armour.

The line to commence at Ligonier, and from thence to Boyds brick house.
Marshals : Richard Graham. John Hargnett, Daniel Boucher, James Waugh.

Captains— A. Biddinger, William Aschom, Conrad George, Joseph Moorhead, Esq.,
Josiah Boucher, Henry Hargnett, John Matthews, Henry Oursler, George Pealing,
Henry Lowry and Daniel Park.

From Brick house to Laughlinstown. Marshals — Col. K. Ambrose, L Matthews and
Robert Kirkwood. Captains — John Fry, James Graham, George Phillippi, Robert Mc-
Millan, Robert Mickey, Sur. George Marker, Joseph Laughery, Joseph Harbinson, George
Albrigh-, John Ewing, Joseph Phillipi, Thomas Metzler and William Curry.

From Laughlinstown along the Pike to Widow Irwin's.

Marshals — Dr. J. Peterson, Robert Louther, Esq., Capt. Chambers Moore and John
Armor.

Captains — Frederick Scepter, Frederick Naugle, James Moore, Esq., A. Douglass,
Esq., Jacob Rector, George Carnes, Sam'l Irwin, John Knupp. John Johnson, William
Armor, Israel Brown, William Menoher, G. McMullen, John Galbraith, William McMul-
Icn, and David Lee.

Froin Widow Irwin's to Waterford.

Marshals — Francis Smith, \\'illiam McCurd}'. Joseph Ogden, James McElroy.

Captains — .Alexander Irwin, Adam Penrod, David Hamil, Jos, Taylor, Alexander
Johnson. James McCurdy, Nathaniel McKelvey, Thomas L. Beam, John Menoher, M. G.

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 589

Lobinger, D. Shepherd, James Ogden, Harmon Skiles, Gordon Clifford, David Taylor,
Alexander Lee, Thomas Findley, David McConatighey, James Clifford, R. D. Clifford.

From Waterford to Clifford's sawmill.

Marshals — Major John Hill, Robert Brown, John Pollock, Esq., Thomas Smith,
Frances Little, Andrew Graham.

Captains — ^Jonathan Louther, James Wilson Joseph Murph}', Samuel Smith, John
Woodend, James Willy, Jno. L. Smith, D. Brown, James Graham, Jr., Hugh McCreary
Ambrose Welshontz, Jacob Welshontz, Thomas McCoy, James Hamil, Jr., J. T. Smith,
J. Milligan, Hugh Little, L. Pollock, William Brody, Edward Clifford, Jacob Losh, David
Hill, Andrew Galbraith, John Arbaugh, Samuel Knupp and Thomas McDowell, Esq.

From Clift'ord's saw mill to Ligonier.

Marshals — Amos Ogden, Esq., William Clifford, Joseph Peebles, Jacob McDowell,
Robert Martin, Col. John McFarland, Cicero Mendell.

Captains — Samuel Piper, Alexander Blair, Marshal Reed, Robert McDowell, Henry
Johnson, John Tosh, Jacob Myers, Robert Hazlett, George Johnson, Thomas Seaton,
Thomas Sutton, William Carnes, Robert Knox, John Giesey, Michael Keiffer, John
Frank, Abram Culin, Alexander Mcllwain, William Huber, G. W. Cook, E. \ebhut,
John Amick and Samuel Baker.

The officers will have the lines formed at 10 o'clock, when a signal will be given by
firing a cannon on the Closing ground. As soon as the signal is heard the Lines will
move off slowly and sound the horns — but no horns to be sounded until the Gun is heard.

No firearms will be allowed unless carried by the Marshals.

No dog is to be let loose until the order is given on penalty of such dogs being
shot by the marshals.

The Grand Marshal and aids will be on the Closing ground before the cannon is fired.

There will be an outer and an inner circle.

Messrs. Thomas Ewing, Charles Menoher, John McConaughey and Lewis Rector
were appointed a Committee to stake off the Closing ground, take charge of the c.\me
and present the proceeds to the printer.

The oldest and the quaintest town in Ligonier Valley is Laughlintown. It
was laid out by Robert Laughhn, in June, 1797. It was built at the base of
Laurel Hill mountains, on the old state road. When the turnpike was built it
passed through the town. On either side and within a short distance were
three iron furnaces, two at least of which were operated at the same time.
With this and with the travel over the pike connecting the east and the west,
Laughlintown must have easily been the metropolis and businesss center of
Ligonier Valley. It is, moreover, the oldest town now in existence in the
county except Greensburg. Situated as it is at the base of the mountain, it
was a favorite over-night stopping place in the wagon and stage-coach days, so
that they might be fresh for the pull up the mountain the following morning.
It had several hotels which catered to the pike and iron trade, and they were all
justly noted in their day.

We forget sometimes that the trend of business towards railroads has
greatly isolated some sections which were formerly our busiest communities,
and were most favorably located. This is the case with Laughlintown. In the
palmy days of turnpike travel it had almost as good a location as any place not
touched by navigable streams. But its glories are mainly in the past, as far as
modern business is concerned.

59°

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

In her book entitled "A Descriptive Account of a Family Tour in the West,"
Sallie Hastings writes of a night she and her party spent in Laughlintown.
She describes a large room in the hotel, the bad roads, etc. She was there
October 23rd, 1800, yet the same hotel is still standing, and the large room un-
changed. It is now owned and used as a dwelling house by the Armor
brothers. This house was a tavern, and was kept by Benjamin Johnston. As
early as 1808 he was licensed to sell liquor "by the small measure." This li-
cense cost him $8.80, as is indicated by the license yet preserved by the Armor
brothers. It was granted by Governor Thomas McKean. When Sallie Hast-
ings was there the house was full of guests on a hunting expedition, but there
was no liquor for them, much to their chagrin, as she narrates. Robert Armor
came there in 1814 and kept it as a hotel for many years afterwards. His son,
John L., born in 1807, became a merchant in 1823, and for many years prior to
his death, June 7, 1878, was one of Ligonier Valley's leading citizens. The
house in which Richard Geary, the father of the governor, lived while em-
ployed in the iron business at Westmoreland Furnace, is still standing.

The town in its better days supported hatter shops, saddlery shops, stores,
etc. The late William St. Clair told the writer that he saw Daniel Webster in
Laughlintown. He was passing through on the stage and stopped a short time
at the hotel. Zachary Taylor stopped at the old brick tavern in 1848, and held

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

591

ULU SCHOOL HOUSE. LAL'GHLINTOWN

quite a reception. This was when he was electioneering for the presi-
dency. At Ligonier a large meeting was held, the candidate and his friends
being entertained at the present Ligonier House. The former tavern keepers
were Benjamin Johnston, Robert Armor, Philip Miller, Robert Elder, Mrs.
Rhoades, Joseph Nicewonger, Frederick Septer, Robert and Alexander Cald-
well. John Burdette, William Eckert, Joseph Park, George Hays, Israel Brown,
George Cams and Joseph Naugle. The latter acquired a great deal of prop-
erty, and remained in the business more or less till he died at the age of nearly
four score years and ten.

A very attractive feature of Laughlintown at present is the private museum
collected by the Armor brothers. It is a collection of relics of the past, which
fills three buildings now and is increasing all the time, and is well worth any-
one's while to visit. On June 7th, 1897, this quaint old town celebrated its hun-
dredth birthday. Ligonier township has twenty-two schools, with 940 pupils
enrolled.

LIGONIER BOROUGH.

The town of Ligonier was laid out by Colonel John Ramsey in 1817. It is
the chief place of interest from a historic point of view in the Ligonier Valley.
It is the most important town in the township, and is located near its center, on '

592

HISTORY OF IVESTMORELAXD COUNTY.

the northern bank of the Lo3-alhanna. Its situation is at once delightful and
romantic. It is in the center of the valley which bears its name, and has on
the east and northwest the blue line of Laurel Hill, which forms the rim of a
partial amphitheater as viewed from the town. On the southwest is the Chest-
nut Ridge, with the cut where the Loyalhanna breaks through the ridge, plainly
in view from almost any section of the valley. Among the first to settle there
when the town was laid out in 1817 were Samuel Adams, Hugh Deever, Sam-
uel Knox, Thomas Wilson, Noah Mendell, and George Matthews. The found-
er of the town had come from Chambersburg. He became a large land owner
around Ligonier, and did a great deal to improve the valley. He built the old
mill which stood en the bank of the Loyalhanna and was finally burned.

One of the earliest houses built in the town after it was laid out was a frame
structure on the public square where the Marker block now stands. It was
built by Henry Reed and occupied by him as a hotel. Reed also owned the
Freeman farm, southwest of Ligonier. Removing there, the hotel was kept by
Harmon Horton. Upon his death his widow, Elizabeth, made the hotel a
famous hostelry in the early days of turnpike travel. One of her daughters,
Ximena, was married to Dr. George B. Fundenberg. Another landlord of a
later date was Philip Miller.

The old brick house on the corner of Main street and the public square, lately
-jiioved and now the one wing of the Breniser Hotel, was built by John Myers in
18 1 8. It was a hotel for seme years, but with the decline of travel on the pike
was used as a store and dwelling house. Thomas Seaton built the Ligonier
House in 1824, and it has been used as a hotel ever since. Its first landlord was
Henry Ankney. After him as landlords came Robert Elder, James Waugh,
Benjamin Marker, John Blair, the Franks, Glessners and others. Samuel
Adams built the hotel which stood on the corner now occupied by ^Murdock's
store. It was kept by one Riffle, and after his death by his widow. The last
landlord in it was Christian Roth. Peter Aurents, sometimes called Orrange,
built the old house which stood so long on the northwest corner of ]Main street
and the public square. He kept store there, and was also a sale cryer. Later it
was used as a store and dwelling house, and for many years as a postoffice.
Aurents also kept a livery stable — one horse, which he hired out for twenty-five
cents per day. Thomas Lawson, the father of the late James Lawson, built a
house standing where W. J. Potts' residence now stands. In 1818, when he was
roofing the house, a violent storm came up suddenly and blew it down, and Mr.
Lawson was killed by falling timbers. James McKelvy built the present
Schoulan House, and in it kept the postoffice and also his office as justice of the
peace, for he was the first postmaster of Ligonier. In 1833 he removed to In-
diana, when John Hargnett, then a young merchant, was appointed post-
master, and Joseph IMoorhead was appointed justice of the peace, which posi-
tion he held by appointment and election till his death in 1865.

A few words concerning the Godfather of Ligonier, Sir John, Lord \'is-
count Ligonier, may not be out of place. The handsome picture printed in

y/..

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 593

these pages is from a painting by Sir Joshua Reynolds, the most eminent of all
English portrait painters. An engraving from the painting was purchased in
Philadelphia by the late Doctor William D. McGowan, and by him devised by
will to the University of Pennsylvania. By special request it was presented by
the University to the Ligonier Library, and is new in the library room of the
Ligonier high school building.

At the time of the Forbes campaign against Fort Duquesne in 1758, Lord
Ligonier was commander-in-chief of the home department of the English army.
He had won great distinction in the army in the wars of Queen Anne. Purely
by merit he gained the highest military rank under the British government.
When he was seventy-three years old he became engaged to marry a young
woman of great wealth and of considerable prominence in London society.
The newspapers of the city took up the matter and made so much ridicule of the
proposed union that, greatly to the distress of Sir John, the match was broken
off. He threatened to sue them for libel because they had circulated that he
was eighty years old, whereas he was seven years younger.

He continued at the head of the English army until, because of his great
age, he obstructed the conduct of public busineess, and yet the authorities could
not remove him and he would not resign. Horace Walpole wrote in his diary
in 1766 that "Lord Granby was made commander-in-chief, tc the mortification
of Lord Ligonier, who accepted an Irish Earl's coronet for his ancient brows
and approaching coffin, and Ligonier got fifteen hundred pounds per year set-
tled on his nephew." Ligonier had been knighted by George the Second, was
created Lord Ligonier in Ireland in 1757, was raised to an English peerage
under the same title in 1763. He was made Earl of Ligonier in 1766. He
died in London in 1770, aged ninety-one years.

His nephew was Edward Ligonier, and was married to Penelope, a daughter
of Lord Francis Rivers. Some years after their marriage an Italian poet
named Alfieri, became, as Lord Edward thought, too much of a favorite of
Lady Ligonier. He thereupon sent him a challenge which the hot-blooded
Italian promptly accepted. They fought with swords, and Alfieri was wound-
ed. After the duel Ligonier was divorced from his wife by an act of Parlia-
ment. The Annual Register states that George the Third made a special trip
to the House of Lords for the purpose of signing the bill. About a year after,
Ligonier was married to Mary Henle, daughter of the Earl of Northington,
Lord Chancellor of England. In 1764 Edward Ligonier was made aide-de-
camp to King George, and was also colonel of a regiment of the Coldstream
Guards. When the Revolutionary war opened he came to America with a
regiment to fight against the Colonies. In 1783 he died in America, without
children, and so the lordly line of Ligoniers died with him.

The name Ligonier was given to the fort by Forbes or Bouquet. By some
means it was also given to a bay on Lake Champlain. It is also borne by a
town in Indiana, which was settled by John Caven, from Ligonier Valley, who
gave the old name to the new town which he helped to found. The township

S94

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

surrciinding Ligonier has borne the same name since it was erected in 1822.
Prior to that there were but two townships between the Ridge and the moun-
tains— Donegal on the south, and Fairfield on the north.

When Colonel John Ramsey laid out the town he called it Ramseystown,
but a violent objection was raised to that name, and it was changed, but not to
Ligonier at first. Ramsey was anxious to adopt any name that would be popu-
lar, so that lots would sell more readily. Two years before that, "chance and
fate combined" defeated Napoleon Bonaparte on the field of Waterloo. Ram-
sey doubtless thought therefore that the most popular name of the day was
Wellingtcci, and it may not be generally known that the name was changed from
Ramseystown to Wellington. The following notice is from the Greensburg
Gazette of February 6, 1817:

NEW TOWN OF WELLINGTON. Will be offered for sale, by publick vendue, at
or near Ligonier Old Fort, on the Great Western Turnpike Road, on Tuesday the 25th
of February instant a number of LOTS of GROUND agreeable to a plan of said town
which will be exhibited on day of sale.

Attend all such as wish to procure valuable property, on easy terms ; where it is
confidently expected there can be shortly obtained a seat of justice for a new county.
Good mechanics of different kinds would meet with liberal encouragement by settlitjg in
said town. Materials of all kinds for building can be had conveniently low. There are
inexhaustible banks of stone coal opened within one mile."

In the same paper, published February 12, 1817, is the following an-
nouncement :

"The new town laid out by Mr. Ramsey at Ligonier Old Fort, is to be called
Ligonier and not Wellington, as was last week advertised. The time for sale of lots
has been changed to 17 of March." Notwithstanding the fact that it was named Ligon-
ier, it was commonly called Ramseystown for many years, and only permanently as-
sumed its present name when it was incorporated, (April 10, 1834). In his plan of lots
recorded in Greensburg, May 19, 1818, Ramsey prohibited servants, minors and in-
solvent persons from bidding at the sale, and provided also that any person who
bought the corner lots on the Diamond should build on them within seven years a brick,
stone or frame two-story house, or forfeit one hundred dollars, which should be used
to build the courthouse when Ligonier should become a county-seat. The purchaser
of any corner lot on Main street who should not build as above specified, should forfeit
fifty dollars, purchasers on Market street should forfeit thirty dollars, and on all other
streets twenty dollars, if they failed to build as above indicated.

A great feature in the early history of Ligonier was the Review Day. It
is sometimes called the parade, or muster day. It originated shortly after the
War of 18 1 2. and was kept up constantly till the Mexican War in 1846. It
was not by any means peculiar to Ligonier, but was com'mon in all parts of the
state. They were required by our laws, the object being to educate the young
men in military tactics. They were generally held in I\Iay. The first was held
on the first Monday cf ]\Tay. It was a preliminary or township afifair, and its

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

595

object was to drill and practice for the great parade which was held two weeks
later. On the second day the entire population from Donegal to the Cone-
maugh river turned out. All men who were capable of bearing arms were en-
rolled, and were compelled to turn out and drill or pay a fine of one dollar.
The review was held in the bottom south of the present iron bridge across the
Loyalhanna. Hundreds of men and women attended out of curiosity, and the
entire community was filled with people. The more prominent officers were
mounted. All were supposed to provide themselves with guns to be used in
drilling, but many of them were only wooden guns.

For more than ten years after Ligonier was laid out, it was without a phy-
sician. When sickness came they applied the simple remedies they were fami-
liar with or had at hand, or sent to Greensburg for the nearest physician. The
first physician who located in Ligonier was Dr. Johnston Miller in 183 1, though
a physician named Rodgers from Connellsville had been there a short time in
1824 and 1825, but failed to receive much patronage. After practicing a few
years ]\Iiller died, and was succeeded by Dr. Samuel P. Cummins. He remained
there nearly a generation, and gathered about him considerable property. As
has been seen, he engaged to a considerable extent in the manufacture of iron.
He built the brick house now known as the National Hotel, and occupied it as
a residence and offices. James Cunningham, a young man of Ligonier, read
medicine with him and practiced there five or si.x years, after which he moved
west. Dr. George B. Fundenberg located there about 1836, and remained sev-
eral years, after which he removed to Fairfield and to the South. He was a
man of fine ability and commanding appearance. He died in Pittsburgh less
than twenty years ago. Dr. Russell also practiced there several years, and
after him came Dr. George M. Kemble, who practically succeeded Dr. Cummins
in both profession and residence. He came from one of the eastern counties,
and remained till the Civil war broke out, when he entered the Fourth Cavalry
Regiment as a captain. He was succeeded by Dr. H. L. Lindley, after whom
came Dr. J. C. Hunter and Dr. John A. Miller. The latter was an unusually
bright young man, who died a martyr to his profession in 1871, having caught
the diphtheria from a patient whom he was treating. Dr. Lemon T. Beam be-
gan practicing there in 1856, and practiced with great success till 1870, when he
removed to Johnstown and was lost in the flood in 1889. He was followed bv
Dr. M. M. McColly, who remained till his death in 1893.

The ]\Iethodists began to hold services in Ligonier and at the farm house of
Abel Fisher, two miles to the northwest, long before they had an edifice in
which to hold them. The hotel built by Samuel Adams had a swinging parti-
tion between the dining room and the kitchen which could be raised and both
rooms thrown into one. In this they held services until about 1825, when they
came into possession of a brick building at the southeast corner of the old
graveyard. In this they held forth till 1855, when some young men who were
greatly interested in church building, stole from their rooms one night and
threw down the end walls. The second edifice, the Methodist and some of

596 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

the prominent men of that day, are referred to in the follcwing letter from Dr.
H. L. Chapman, written for this work :

On Friday, August 25, 1850, I walked from Blairsville to Ligonier valley to enter
upon my duties as junior pastor on what was known as the Ligonier circuit of the Meth-
odist Episcopal Church. The circuit embraced fifteen preaching places, though none of
the societies were large. In Ligonier we had seventy-five members, and a small brick
church of one room. It was situated on a back street which terminated and was fenced
a few rods beyond the church. As vehicles never passed over this street, it was a fav-
orite place for cows to rest quietly at night. But the edifice was by no means well located
for securing the attendance of the general public, and only the most faithful members as
a rule, found their way there for divine service.

Yet in no community of its size have I ever found so many people of solid character,
intelligence and exemplary conduct. There were few poor people and yet few could
be called rich, even in those days of moderate fortunes. All whether rich or poor, and
without regard to religious distinctions, lived together in great peace and social equality.

Among the more influential members of the Ligonier church at that time were Abel
Fisher, who was known far and near because of his remarkable knowledge of the Bible
and the books pertaming to it, and of Methodist literature generally ; John T. McGowan,
a merchant of great shrewdness and intelligence, and a man remarkably fluent in prayer
and in public address ; John Hargnett, who was associated with Mr. McGowan in busi-
ness, and was for a quarter of a century the Sunday school superintendent, was a man
of superb honor and kindness ; David Boucher, a large land owner and extensive farmer,,
living about half a mile south of Ligonier. He, too, was in many respects a remarkable
man. For practical wisdom and solid sense it would be hard to find his superior. He
was a Pennsylvania German, and had enough of the Teutonic accent to make his con-
versation interesting and impressive. His piety was deep and intelligent, and held su-
preme sway over all of'his faculties. He was remarkably generous and hospitable. Then
there was Alexander Bovard, formerly a stage driver, but who became one of the most
useful and intelligent of men as a Bible class teacher and class leader. Robert McCon-
aughey was a substantial farmer and consistent church member, living close to the vil-
lage. Mrs. Horrell was justly celebrated for her great piety, and died many years later
in her hundredth year.

In 1857 the society decided to build a new church. The question of location became
one of great interest. Many were anxious to retain the old site on account of its precious
memories. But David Boucher was convinced that a more public site was desirable. He
urged the great advantage there would be in having the new church located where every-
one could see it, and thus be attracted to attend its services. I was then pastor for the-
second time of the Ligonier charge. Mr. Boucher's choice for a church site, as well as
my own, was a lot on one corner of the public square, in the center of the village. In
order to influence the decision he offered a moderate sum for a church to be built any-
where, but five timesas much if it should be built on the public square. This had a great
influence, and practically secured the location which is now occupied by the splendid stone
church, successor to the one he helped to build nearly fifty years ago.

During the winter which followed the dedication of the church, a great revival took
place. There were received into the church as a result of it one hundred and six mem-
bers, so that in a few weeks, the society had been more than doubled in membership.
Among those received who became prominent and valuable members, were Dr. L. T.
Beam, who perished in the Johnstown flood; Hiram Boucher, of sterling worth to both
church and community, and especially noted as a Bible class teacher; Noah M. Marker,
a successful merchant; Jacob Murdock; the McConaughey brothers, Frank Harvey and
Calender ; and many others.

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 597

A Female Seminary was established and well patronized in Ligonier about
1845. It was founded by Rev. A. B. Clark and was kept in the brick house now
owned by George Senft, manager of the Ligonier Valley Railroad. In the
Ligonier Free Press of September 5th, 1845, is the following advertisement:

The first semi-annual examination of the school will take place on the last Thursday
the 25th of September in the Ligonier Presbyterian Church. The exercises will commence
at 9 o'clock a. m. and will consist in the examination of the pupils, in the various branches
studied during the session, together with vocal music and reading original compositions.

Encouraged by the success of our experiment we propose to continue the school,
upon the terms already published, viz. : $55.00 for the winter session, including all ex-
penses excepting washing.

All the branches of an English education together with composition and vocal music
will be taught upon these terms. Lessons in the Latin are given weekly by a young
gentleman from Germany.

We shall be prepared also to give lessons in Painting, Drawing, French, Latin and
Greek, for each of which there will be an extra charge of six dollars per session.

No teachers are employed but such as are competent and highly recommended. The
winter session will commence on the first Monday of November and close on the last
Thursday of March. Persons wishing to send will please give notice as early as con-
venient. Address, A. B. Clark, Superintendent. Persons desiring further information
respecting the school are referred to either of the following gentlemen :

Rev. Joseph Scroggs, Ligonier; Rev. J. L Brownson, Greensburg; Rev. Samuel
McFerrin, Congruity; Hon. T. Pollock, Ligonier; Rev. Samuel Swan. Ligonier; Major

John Hill, Hillsview; Rev. John Flemming, ; Col. John McFarland, Ligonier:

Joseph Moorhead, Esq., Ligonier; Dr. Geo. B. Fundenberg, Ligonier; Dr. S. P. Cum-
mings, Ligonier.

The Ligonier high school building is one of the best and most stately look-
ing buildings in the county. It was built in 1893 and finished in 1894. It cost
about $44,000.

The town has a splendid system of water works built in 1897. The water
is brought almost directly from springs on Laurel Hill mountains, and affords
an abundant supply of soft water, and the rate paid by the consumers is the
lowest in the county. The borcTigh has seven schools, with 300 pupils.

CHAPTER XLIV

Sewickley Township.— Suterville.—Loyalhanna Township.— Burrell Township.— Parnas-
sus.— New Kensington. — Cook Township. — Bell Township. — Penn Township. —
Manor. — Penn Borough. — St. Clair Township. — New Florence.

Sewickley township was erected in 1835, and was named after the Big
Sewickley creek, which flows from its southwestern boundary. It is bounded
on the north by North Huntingdon township ; on the east by Hempfield town-
ship ; on the south by South Huntingdon township, and on the west by the
Youghiogheny river. Among the early settlers were Gasper Markle, Jacob
Painter, Anthony Blackburn, Caruthers, Carnahans. Campbells, Marchands,
MiUigans, Pinkertons, Gilberts, McGrews, and others.

Anthony Blackburn settled there in 1778, but removed to Canada a few
years later. One of his sons returned and spent the remainder of his days in Se-
wickley township. The sons who remained in Canada served in the British
army in the War of 1812, and were on the northwestern frontier. These boys
while residents of Sewickley township had been schoolmates of General Joseph
Markle. After the war was over one of them paid a visit to Westmoreland,
and stated that a few days before the commencement of the siege at Fort Meigs
he was lying with a company of India:ns concealed near the fort, and that while
tliere Joseph Markle and his orderly sergeant, John C. Plumer, and a part of his
company passed close by, and that he (Blackburn) recognized his old acquain-
tances and schoolmates, Markle and Plumer, and permitted them to pass by
without firing upon them. This perhaps saved the lives of all the party.

One of the most noted families in the township of Sewickley was the Markle
family, but as its history has been considered in another part of this work
nothing further need be said here.

Another noted family was the Guffey family. William Guffey, the
progenitor of the family, came from Ireland, bringing with him his wife and
children about 1738, and later settled in Sewickley township, in Westmoreland
county, where he died in January, 1783. His son, James Guffey, was born in
1736, two years before his father left Ireland. His oldest son, John Guffey,
was born in Sewickley townsliip, August 6, 1764, and was married to Agnes
Lowry, who was born April 18, 1773. His second wife was Rebecca Stewart.
James Guffey was his oldest son, and was one of thirteen children. James was
born at the Guffey homestead, December 15, 1791. He was a soldier in the

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

599

cavalry company under General Joseph IMarkle in the War of 1812, and was en-
gaged in the battle of Mississinewa. Upon his return from the army he mar-
ried Hannah, a daughter of James and Mary P. Scott, who was born March 6,
1 79 1. Her father had also come from Ireland. They settled on the Guffey
hcmestead in a log house, and it was he who built the present brick house on
the homestead in 1833. He died March 22, 1841, and his wife survived him
until June 10, 1878. From these people came the Gufi'ey family, one of the
most noted families in Western Pennsylvania.

The Greenawalt family was another noted one in the township. Its
founder was Jacob Greenawalt, who was a native of Lancaster county, Penn-
sylvania, and who settled on a farm in Sewickley township, about 1798. He
was married to Martha Brenneman, and they had four sons and five daughters.
From this family came Captain Caleb Greenawalt, who served with distinction
in the Civil war.

Mars Hill Baptist Church was organized by Rev. Milton Sutton, in 1840.
He was followed by Revs. R. R. Sutton, J. P. Rockefeller, T. G. Lonham, D.
Webster, R. C. Morgan and others. Rev. O. P. Hargrave was afterwards
their regular pastor for nearly a quarter of a century. They have now a very
valuable church property.

About two miles north of Millgrove is situated a United Presbyterian
church, and a mile farther north is a Methodist church.

SEWICKLEY AIEETING.*

The Society of Friends, or Quakers, as they were called by others in de-
rision, arose in England about the year 1650. They endeavored to carry out in
practice the doctrines of the New Testament, and accordingly were opposed to
all wars and the use of oaths, while they upheld a free gospel ministry and the
equality of all men. They soon became the objects of a bitter persecution whicli
filled the prisons to overflowing and caused the deaths of many through bar-
equality of all men. They soon became the objects of a bitter persecution which
William Penn obtained from King Charles II in 1681 the charter for Pennsyl-
vania, with the view of founding a colony where religious liberty might be en-
joyed, there were many who were ready to face the trials of a new settlement
rather than those they had endured in the Old World.

The first meeting of Friends in Pennsylvania was held at what is now
Chester, in Delaware county, and on the Delaware river. With the constant
influx of immigrants the settlements were extended into the interior, and new
meetings were set up as necessity demanded. It may be explained that aside
from meetings for worship there are meetings for business, and these are de-
signated as preparative, monthly, quarterly and yearly meetings. Two or more
preparative meetings may form a monthly, two or more monthly meetings may
form a quarterly, and usually several quarterly meetings form a yearly meet-

* This narrative was contributed by a descendant of one of the founders of Sewick-
ley Meeting, from whom it came to the publishers direct.

6oo HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

ing. The monthly meetings are the principal executive branch of the Society,
and exercise an oversight over the membership in various ways. New meet-
ings are established by them, subject to the approval of the quarterly meetings,
and there has been a kind of genealogical succession, so to speak, throughout
their history. Beginning with Chester Monthly Meeting, in 1681, we have
Concord, set off in 1684; Newark, (now Kennet) from Concord, in 1686; New
Garden, from Newark in 1718; Nottingham, in 1730; Hopewell in Frederick
county, Virginia, in 1736; Westland, Washington county, Pennsylvania, in
1785 ; Redstone, Fayette county, 1793, and Providence, by division of Redstone,
in 1817.

In 1773 Jolm Parrish, of Philadelphia, in company with Zebulon Heston
and John Lacy, paid a visit to the western Indians, and from the journal of the
first the following is somewhat condensed :

8 Mo. I2th, Left Pittsburgh to visit some Friends in the new Settlement about Red-
stone (Governor of Virginia just arrived at Pittsburgh) — went down the ]\Ionongahela
about 6 miles and forded ; went to one Francis Fisher's a Friend who received them kindly
—had a large Family of Children. 13th. Had a Meeting with his & 3 other Families.
14th. Cross'd the same Fording Place back into Braddock's Road & pass'd thro' the
Field of Battle (the Bones yet in. Sight) — travell'd down the Road about 30 miles from
Pittsburgh; put up at McDole's a Presbyterian, a private House, ist Day ye isth stay'd
all day. l6th. Turned back 3 miles into the Redstone Road & in about 10 miles riding
came into a small Settlement of Friends, between the two Sewickillys ; and not far from
Yohageni are settled Joseph Blackburn, Wm. Read. Simeon McGrey, Anthony Black-
burn, Danl Hammond, James , Jos. Bedsworth, Gilbert. Had a heavenly

Meeting the i/th at Jos. Blackburn's, about 30 or 40 persons being present, mostly
promising Youth ; went towards the upper End of Redstone & lodg'd with Daniel Ham-
mand. i8th crossed the 2 Redstone Creeks along by the Fort (hilly fertile Lands) & got
to Josias Crawford's where were kindly received, and next Day by him acompanied to
his Brother James's. (See Penna. Magazine, xvi, 446.)

At Westland ]\Ionthly jMeeting, 10 mo. 25, 1788: "Redstone Prepara-
tive Meeting informs this that the friends on the Waters of Sewickley creek
request the holding of a meeting among them." A committee was appointed
to visit them, who reported, 12 mo. 27, that they had an opportunity with
Friends on Sewickley, and believed further care to be necessary. The request
was granted for them to hold a meeting at James McGrew's until further con-
venience can be made, on the first and fourth days of the week, to begin at the
eleventh hour, and the first meeting to be held on the eleventh day of next
month. Twelve men were appointed to sit with them at the opening of the
meeting, i mo. 24, 1789: "Part of the Committee appointed to have the care
of the meeting on Sewickley attended the opening thereof to their satisfaction."
5 mo. 16, 1789 : "Several of the committee appointed have visited the meet-
ing on Sewickley divers times" and find "further care will be profitable." The
old committee of twelve was released 9 mo. 26, 1789, and a committee of four
appointed to extend what care may be needful. On 3 mo. 26, 1791, the com-
mittee was released, and the case referred particularly to the care of Providence
Preparative Meeting.

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

60 1

The minutes of Redstone Monthly ^Meeting, commencing 4 mo. 26, 1793,
and of which Providence Meeting, Fayette county, was a branch, show that
Joseph Talbot, wife Mary and four children, Sarah, Elizabeth, Allen and Will-
iam settled at Sewickley in that year. Abner Gilbert produced a certificate from
Friends in Chester county, 8 mo. 31, 1798, an unmarried man. The meeting
was not yet permanently established, but was "indulged" to be held for definite
periods. On 12 mo. 28, 1798, "Providence Preparative Meeting informs that
friends of Sewickly request the establishment of their Meeting & also the privi-
ledge of holding a preparative, which being considered by this Meeting Rees
Cadwalader, Jonas Cattell, William Dixon. John Cope, John Cadwalader &

ailt by Simon McGre
d of his great-grands(
tradition is that the

about 17.5.'i. and still standing. It is in Sewickley Town
William M. McGrew. It is on the Braddock route, and
nfortunale General stopped there on his way to
Fort Du.iuesne.

Henry Troth are appointed to sit with friends of that Meeting, feel after their
situation the propriety of such an establishment & report their sense thereof to
next Meeting." Finally, on 8 mo. 30, 1799, it was agreed to establish the
meeting, and the decision was forwarded to the quarterly meeting for approval :
but it was not till 1826 that it was made a preparative meeting of business.
Abner Gilbert was appointed an overseer 6 mo. 2, 1809, and appointed a mem-
ber of the "Meeting for Sufferings" 3 mo. 29, 181 1, in the room of his brother
Benjamin, deceased. James Means was appointed an overseer 9 mo. i, 1815.

6o2 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

The will of James A. IMcGrew, dated nth of 4th month, 1805, contains the
following clause : "I give and bequeath unto the Members of Sewickly Meet-
ing all that piece of land struck off by meets and bounds the other day, to
Friends, their heirs and assigns forever, provided as soon as the privilege of a
Meeting is taken from them it is my will that it fall to my son James, to his
heirs and assigns forever, except that part that is enclosed within the fence
round the burying ground it is my will and pleasure that that stand forever for
a burying ground."

By indenture dated 12 mo. 12, 1832, James A. McGrew, of North Hunting-
don township, son of the above James and Rebekah, his wife, released all re-
versionary interest in the land to Benjamin Gilbert and George Gilbert, trustees
for the Sewickley Preparative Meeting. The amount of land was said to be
seven acres, and that it was part of a tract patented to the said James A. Mc-
Grew, February 13, 1816. A resurvey in 185 1 made it a little less than seven
acres. The present meeting-house was erected about sixty years ago. The
Means, Hammond, McGrew and Blackburn families were from Adams county.
Benjamin Gilbert was from the vicinity of Philadelphia, about 1787, but could
not have been the person mentioned by Parrish.

SUTERVILLE.

Suterville is a thrifty borough on the Youghiogheny river, and in Sewickley
township. It was laid out about 1870 by the late Eli C. Suter, who was a large
owner of land on the banks of the river. It is four miles below West Newton,
and has gradually increased in population until it now contains about 1200 peo-
ple. Its chief industry is mining coal and making coke. It has splendid trans-
portation facilities for these products on the Baltimore & Ohio and the Pitts-
burgh, McKeesport & Youghioghenv railroad.

Its churches are the Catholic, Presbyterian and IMethodist, each of which
are strong societies.

The Allegheny and Westmoreland Bridge Company constructed a bridge
across the Youghiogheny river at this place in 1896. It is about seven hundred
feet long, and is a very handsome structure. The town was incorporated in
1902 by the courts of Westmoreland county. John Kellner was its first chief
burgess, while Matthew Osborne, Samuel Rudebaugh, John Keegan, Louis
Oberdick, Philip Rinehart and James Hcpkinson were the first councilmen.
Their first borough election was held August 16, 1902.

Suter's Ferry was a well .established crossing at this place fifty years ago.
It was owned and operated by Eli C. Suter, the founder and godfather of the
town. He was a man of strong character, good business habits and great
energy. As long as he lived he could not be otherwise than the leader of his
community.

LOVALII.XNNA TOWNSHIP.

.\n attempt was made in 183 1, as appears from our court records, to form
Loyalhanna township out of parts of Salem, Derry, and ^^'ashington townships.

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 603

As a result of this and ether apphcations which followed it, the township was
organized by our courts in 1833. It received its name from the well known his-
toric stream which flows through its central part. It is bounded on the north '
by the Conemaugh river ; on the east by Derry township ; en the south and
southwest by Salem township, and on the northwest by Bell township. It is
watered by the Loyalhanna and a few minor streams which flow into it.

Among the early settlers in Loyalhanna township were the Georges, Hen-
sels, Robinsons, Kerrs, McBrides, Adairs, and Stewarts. Of those who have
figured prominently in the history of the township and vicinity are the names
Kirkpatrick, Campbell, Sterritt, Bowman, Johnson, Semon and ethers. Al-
most the entire township is underlaid with coal, and its surface is well adapted
to agriculture. It has, of course, but little early history that may be properly
told here, for it was in the pioneer days united with Salem, Derry and Wash-
ington townships, and its earlier history has therefore been gone over in the
description of these townships.

The Northwestern Pennsylvania Railroad runs along its northern bound-
ary. Though small in area, it is filled with enterprising citizens who are noted
for their thrift, industry, intelligence and morality. It has four schools, and
124 pupils enrolled.

BURRELL TOWNSHIP.

Lower and Upper Burrell townships were organized in 1879 by a division
of Burrell townships into two parts. The petition of the citizens of Burrell
township asked for a division on account of various reasons therein stated, and
on December 22d they presented their petition to the court, with Judge James
A. Logan on the bench, and on January 18, 1879, the prayer of the petitioners
was finally granted, and the townships were named Upper and Lower Burrell.
The original Burrell township had been taken from Allegheny township in
1852, while Judge Jeremiah Murry Burrell was on the bench, and the new
division was named in his honor. The boundaries of the old township were
north by Allegheny county ; on the east by Washington county ; on the south-
east by Franklin township, and on the west by the Allegheny river, which
separates our county from Allegheny county. The entire township of Burrell
(that is the present Upper and Lower Burrell townships) is underlaid with
coal, which is now being mined.

The early settlers of these townships were largely of Scotch-Irish extrac-
tion. The Crooks family located on Pucketoes creek in 1791. William Ross
came from Ireland, and after a short sojourn in Franklin and Adams counties
moved to Burrell township. He died August 28, 1839, in the eighty-seventh
year of his age. John Stewart settled there also, with his brother William, the
latter living until 1850. John Bales settled in Burrell township in 1805. Other
early settlers were the McLaughlins, Byerleys, Millers, Hummels, Donnells,
Hunters, Skillens, Moores, Logans, Shearers, Leslies, Blacks, Georges,

6o4 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

Swanks, Milligans, Sands, Woodslayers, Rowans, Nelsons, Gills, Ludwigs,
Dugans, Henrys, Lanes, Ingrams, Crawfords, Caldwells, Fredericks, Kunkles,
McWilliams, McCutcheons, etc. One of the first pioneers in the township was
James Johnstcn, a Revolutionary soldier who lived to be one hundred and three
years old. David Alter was another early settler. His father was born in
Switzerland, and came to America before the Revolution. His oldest son,
Joseph, was the father of the renowned Dr. David Alter. David Alter was born
in 1775, and was a captain in the War of 1812. He was the builder of Alter's
mills, on Pucketoes creek. All of these early settlers from 1780 to 1792 were
subjected to severe treatment on the part of the Indians who came into this
township from the Indian country north of the Allegheny.

One of the oldest churches in the original Burrell township was the Puckety
United Presbyterian Church. It is located about two miles southeast of Char-
tiers Station. Several families from Adams and Franklin counties, among
whom were the Rosses, Crooks, etc., had settled with the Watts, Skillens and
others in this section, and soon formed a religious denomination. They were
supplied with pastors at various times between 1795 and 1804, when they began
to have regular supplies. At a meeting of the Monongahela Presbytery in 1803
an application was received from these people for a regular minister. Rev.
Mungo Dick was appointed to preach to them, and also at the Yough meeting
house, afterwards known as Bethesda Church. Later they were supplied by
Rev. Henderson, Rev. Buchanan, and Rev. Galloway. These ministers all
journeyed long distances on horseback through an almost unbroken wilderness,
for there were but few roads and no bridges in the northern part of the county
at that time. They preached at first in a grove on the Ross homestead. In
1806 William Ross finished a barn, and it was used as a place of worship for
some months. Later came the "tent" at the forks of a road not far from Char-
tier's Station. The "tent" was a temporary affair made by putting four posts
in the grcimd and closing the spaces up on three sides and putting a rude roof
over the top of it. Here the first regular services were held until a church was
erected, which was about 1816. It was a log structure thirty-two by twenty-
eight feet, and had no ceiling. It was warmed by a ten-plate stove. Rev. JMc-
Connell was an early pastor there, and resigned as pastor in 1833. ^ second
church of brick was built there in 1837.

The Bethesda Lutheran Church is located near the Allegheny township
line, and was organized in 1864. Before that time the Lutherans had services
in a schoolhouse on the Ross farm, which was erected in 1850. Their pastors
were Revs. Earhart, Hoover, Barry, M. G. Earhart, who preached also at Han-
key's Cliurch, in Franklin township. The Presbyterian congregation was or-
ganized in Parnassus in 1842 by Revs. James Graham and S. M. McClung.
The Methodist Episcopal Church is also a congregation and a church in Lower
Burrell township, a short distance from Tarentum. In 1868 the Reformed
Presbyterian Church was organized at Parnassus, and they built a frame
structure there in 1870.

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 605

Upper Burrell township has five schools, with 105 pupils enrolled. Lower
Burrell has eight schools, with 182 pupils enrolled.

The borough of Parnassus is very beautifully situated on the eastern bank of
the Allegheny river, in Lower Burrell township. The Allegheny Valley rail-
road passes by it, and was built in 1855 and 1856. The town took its name
from a church called Parnassus Church, on the Logan homestead. John W.
Logan laid out the town shortly after the building of the railroad. The bor-
ough was incorporated by Act of Assembly passed April 9, 1872. The first
section of the Act directed the court of quarter sessions to appoint three per-
sons to make out the boundaries of the borough and make a report to the court.
C. F. Warden, John M. Dickey and J. F. McCullough were accordingly ap-
pointed, and they filed their report on August 6th. Since then Parnassus has
gradually increased in population and in business industries, and nearby are the
thriving towns of New Kensington and Arnold. All should be incorporated in
one borough, and we understand such a project is in contemplation. In that
event the incorporation would be one of the first towns in the county.

NEW KENSINGTON.

This place, together with Arnold and Parnassus, adjunct towns, has a
population of between nine and ten thousand. It was started as a "booiii
town," promoted by a party of Pittsburgh capitalists, incorporated as the Bur-
rell Improvement Company, with Samuel E. Moore as president, and Joseph P.
Cappeau as secretary and treasurer, who secured parts of the Stephen Young
and the late Rev. Alex. Young farms. Engineers were set to work early in the
spring of 1891 to lay out and plot the town of Kingston (later styled New
Kensington). The sale of lots began June loth. Free railway transportation
was widely issued from the Pittsburgh office of the Land Company, and fully
fifteen thousand people came to look the ground over. The sale continued for
three days. It took a stout heart to pay fabulous prices for lots when the corn
rows were so plainly in sight and only furrows marking the streets, avenues and
alleys, with muslin signs bearing the names of proposed manufacturing plants
to be built. Yet in the face of all this newness of "things yet to be," some
$63,000 worth of lots were sold the first day, and the sales in the three days
amounted to over $135,000.

The pioneer plants built were the Pittsburgh Reduction Company's works,
which have ever since been the real life of the borough, and the Excelsior Glass
Works, making the famous "Excelsior Lamp Chimneys," which concern finally
merged into that of the Reduction Company. Then followed, one after the
other, factories including the Sterling White Lead Company, Bradley Stove
Works, Pennsylvania Tin Plate Company, the Hunt Air Brake Works, Cold
Rolled Steel Plant, Enameling Works, Plate-Glass Company, Glenn Drilling

6o6 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

Company, and Chambers Glass Works of Arnold borough : a nail works and
a piano factory survived hardly long enough to have a place in history. Some
of these plants removed to other places, some were merged into others, and some
fell into a dreamless sleep and are numbered in the defunct list today. In 1905
the Pittsburgh Reduction Company is in the front rank of manufacturing plants
of the borough. It is exclusively engaged in the work of reducing that most
wonderful metal — aluminum — from clay by a secret process in which electricity
is a medium, and finally working it out into a hundred and one different articles
of commercial value to the domestic life and to the arts and sciences the world
over. This company commenced on a modest scale, employing less than a
score of workmen, but has so rapidly grown that six hundred skilled and un-
skilled workmen now find employment. The same concern has branch works
at Niagara Falls, New York, East St. Louis, Illinois, and in Canada. The New
Kensington works makes the metal into "pigs," and also furnishes large
amounts of finished goods, including automobile beds, ocean cables, etc. Just
now they are supplying vast quantities of aluminum for the subways of New-
York and Brooklyn. At first it was sold for three dollars per pound, but by
cheap process it has become a cheap commodity, yet it affords large profits,
amounting to one hundred per cent, in recent dividends on the stock.

Another great industry of New Kensington is the works of the American
Tin-Plate Company, (now a part of the property of the consolidated American
Sheet and Tin Plate Company) now equipped at this branch plant with seven
hot mills and twelve tinning sets. The annual product capacity is 350,000
boxes of tin-plate. The number of men employed is about five hundred. This
is styled the "Pittsburgh plant." The "Pennsylvania," another plant of the
same company, became a part of the American Tin-Plate Company in Decem-
ber, 1898, and is now equipped with six hot mills and twelve tinning sets. The
annual product capacity being 300,00 boxes of tin plate.

At Arnold borcaigh the Chambers Glass Works was built in 1892, and finally
came to rank as the largest single window glass plant in America, and is now a
part of the great American Window Glass Trust.

The Columbia Drilling Company are makers of all sorts of earth drills, from
the smallest tube-well size to those used in oil and gas wells, where the depth
ranges from one to three thousand feet. They sell in all parts of the world, in-
cluding Alaska, Peru, Siam and Siberia. The Clay Pot Factory, wherein are
made pots suitable for melting various substances, has become no small con-
cern. There are also good roller flour mills in operation at this point, as well
as two large breweries, one having a capacity of 50,000 barrels per year.
These were started in 1897.

The three banking houses of this place are, the First National, established
in 1892 with a $50,000 capital ; the Logan Trust Company, with $100,000 cap-
ital, with J. W. Logan as president, and J. R. Alter as cashier, and the Parnas-
sus National Bank.

New Kensington was incorporated as a borough November 26. 1892, and

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 607

one }-ear later was divided into wards : First, Kensington ; seccnd, Arnold. A
dissatisfaction grew up, and Arnold was made a borough of itself, but at pres-
ent steps are being taken to reunite the two places. Here one finds all modern
improvements and true progress on every hand. The borough officials have
ever been of the true type of citizens. The first burgess was D. H. McCarty,
succeeded by B. C. Shaffer, and he by R. Henderion. The present burgess is
M. H. Mainwaring. The present council is: Solomon Shaner, president;
David Thomas, J. B. Morehead, H. H. Klingensniith, Henry Savers, David H.
\\'ebb and Samuel Heister.

This place has an excellent sewerage system, extending to every part of the
borough, and all streets west of the railroad are paved with vitrified brick.
There has been erected at an expense of $12,000 a commodious town hall and
a secure "lock-up" for the confinement of law breakers. There, are three well
drilled fire companies, two of which number fifty members each. Not in busi-
ness alone dees New Kensington rank high among the boroughs of Westmore-
land county, but it has splendid facilities for the development of the secular aud
spiritual mind as well. It has twenty school rooms in two good buildings, and
an enrollment of 1141 pupils.

The following religious denominations are represented here, and many
have fine church edifices, in which to worship after their own peculiar faith,
while others are in the mission stage of their history. The first in the field was
the Lutheran congregation, as a mission, with Rev. Carl Zinmesiter, pastor, in
October, 1891. Then came the following: St. Joseph's Reformed, Firlst
Methodist Episcopal, First Baptist, Zion's German Lutheran, Trinity Re-
formed, Episcopal, First Presbyterian. Evangelical Lutheran, St. Mary's Pol-
ish Catholic, St. Peter's Italian Catholic, First Church of Christ, African
Methodist Episcopal, German Baptist, and Colcred Baptist.

The newspapers of the place are the Keystone, (Republican), and the Dis-
patch, (Democratic), both weekly journals, alive to the best interests of the
community.

The borough is provided with excellent water from a private corporation,
and also with modern electric light and natural gas plants. Its natural adapt-'
ability and rare beauty as a town site is not excelled in the entire Allegheny
valley, and its connection by electric line with Tarentum, Natrona and various
other points, makes it accessible and a desirable place in which to reside.

COOK TOWNSHIP.

Cook township was formed by a division of Donegal township, and its early
history is therefore included in Donegal township. The difficulties which
brought about this division are unknown to the writer. Before the township
was divided the elections of the entire township were held at Stahlstown. This
was a matter of great complaint to those who resided beyond Donegal or in the
southern portion of Ligonier valley. David Cook was at that time an associate

6o8 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

judge of Westmoreland county, and the new township was named after him.
He was the father of Wilham A. Cock, for many years a member of the West-
moreland bar, and still later a lawyer of great renown in Washington City.

The earlv settlers were the Campbells, Pipers, Thompsons, Binkeys, Bests,
Phillippis, Beistals, Matthews, Groves, Parks, Hangers,- Heinzs, Hoods, Fel-
gars, Stahls, Brants, Cavens, Withrows, McDowells, Wellers, Weavers, etc.
One of the most renowned early settlers was "Elder" Robert Campbell, the pro-
genitor of the large Campbell family which resides in Ligonier valley, and who
have since settled in many other parts of the county. His father was murdered
by the Indians, and his life and character has been considered elsewhere in this
volume. The blockhouse called Fort Williams, on the Four Mile run, was built
by Richard Williams, and on his land. Among the first justices of the peace in
the township .were Seymour Campbell, and still later came Lewis Thompson,
James McClain, James McDowell, John Campbell, J. G. Weaver and others.
The township lies high, much of it being mountainous. In the central part
there are many productive farms, and that region is well situated for agricul-
tural purposes. The timber business has always been a leading one in certain
parts of the township.

The Harman family is an old one in the township, the progenitor of which
was captured by the Indians, and his life and character has been given else-
where. Through this country it will be remembered went the great Catawba
war trail, running north and south, and passing directly through Ligonier val-
ley. This brought about a great many Indian depredations from which other
parts of Westmoreland county were exempt. It also sufifered a great deal
from the Indians during the Revolutionan,- period.

Stahlstown is the leading village, and has never been incorporated, though
it is one of the oldest towns in the Ligonier valley. It is built in nearly the
center of the township, and on ground originally owned by Leonard Stahl, from
whom it took its name.

One of the leading churches in Cook township is the Pleasant Grove Pres-
byterian Church. It is about midway and a short distance east on the road
leading from Donegal to Ligonier. James Power preached there as early as
April 25, 1785. This was when Fairfield, Ligonier and Wheatfield were all in
one charge. The ministers cf a later period have been named in connection with
other churches in Ligonier valley. They were James Hughes, George Hill,
Rev. Swan, etc. The first edifice of this congregation was built of logs, but in
1832 a substantial stone building was constructed, which is yet standing and is
in splendid condition. Its old style of architecture makes it one of the hand-
somest churches in Ligonier valley. It was built by a stonemason named John
Lane, who lived and died in Donegal township. For many years the Metho-
dist Church has perhaps been the leading denomination in Cook township.
They have now a beautiful edifice in the village of Stahlstown. The United
Presbyterian Church, about two miles northwest of Stahlstown, was founded

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 609

in the early years of last century, and has been spoken of heretofore in connec-
tion with its renowned pastor, Rev. Joseph Scroggs.

A prominent family in Cook township is the Weaver family, descendants
of William Weaver, who was born in Somerset county, September 18, 1809.
His grandfather, William Weaver, had been a minister in the German Re-
formed Church, and a native of Germany. He settled in Sewickley township,
and his son by the same name became a millwright and followed his trade in
Somerset comity. In 1812 he removed to Weaver's Mill district, in Cook town-
ship, and spent the remainder of his life there. Still later he built a flouring
mill, and this in connection with saw milling and farming gave him employ-
ment for the rest of his days. He left a large number of children who are yet
prominent people in Cook township, and elsewhere in the county. The Weaver
family are still farther back descended from Rev. John M. Weber who was one
of our early ministers.

The township has nine schools, with 256 pupils enrolled.

BELL TOWNSHIP.

Bell township was erected out of parts of Loyalhanna and Salem town-
ships, and was organized in 1853. It is bounded on the north by the Kiski-
minetas river ; on the east and southwest by Loyalhanna township ; on the
south by Salem township, and on the west by Huntingdon township. On the
northeastern boundary is built the Pennsylvania railroad. Its principal stream
besides the Kiskiminetas river is the Beaver run. This township is underlaid
with coal, which is being mined. It has also large deposits of fire-clay from
which fire-brick is manufactured. In former chapters we have spoken of the
Carnahan blockhouse. It was built in this township by John Carnahan, and
was for many years a refuge in time of Indian incursion, for himself and neigh-
bors for miles around.

Among the early settlers were the Yockeys, Carnahans, Callens, Marshalls,
Whitfields, Clawsons, Ewings, Hiens, Rumbaughs, Taylors, Alcorns, Neelys,
McKees, Hiltys, Thompsons, Kuhns, Blairs, Pauls, Kennedys, Glasses, KHnes,
AlcDivitts, McCauleys, Walkers, Beattys, Gartleys, Montgomerys, Bowmans,
Householders, Robinsons, McConnells, Elwoods, Wolfords, Bears, Huffs,
Longs, etc.

The German Reformed and Lutheran Churches established a congregaticn
nearly a mile north of Helena, on a blufif overlooking the Kiskiminetas river,
near the site of an old Indian village called "Old Town." The land was donated
by a farmer named Simon Hine. Upon it they established a church and a
graveyard, and in 1803, a few years after the graveyard was in use, the neigh-
bors hewed logs, each one on his own home, and hauled them to this point, and
at a time fixed the entire neighborhood met to roll the logs together and build
a church. But a dispute arose between the churches on the question as to
whom the ground should be deeded. This dispute was never settled, and the
logs were left to lie there untouched until they decayed. About 1810 Christo-

6io HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

pher Y(Kkev, of the Reformed Church, gave a lot of ground about three miles
southwest of this, and upon it a church was erected. The first Reformed pas-
tor was John William Weber, who began preaching there about 1808, and con-
tinued until about 18 16. His successor was William Weinel, who preached to
them until 1838, in which year they built a very respectable church edifice of
brick as a church building. The church cost $2,200. Both the Reformed and
the Lutheran congregations were united in constructing this church. It was
built by Matthew Callen and John Paul. Rev. Henry Knepper, a Reformed
minister, preached here, though he lived in Kittanning and preached also in
Butler. He remained attached to the charge till 1846. Rev. Voight also
preached there, probably following Rev. Weinel. Rev. Samuel H. Giesey be-
gan preaching there in November, 1848, and remained with them till 1855. He
was followed by Rev. Thos. G. Apple in 1856 and 1857. During these years
the charge had been connected with Greensburg. A separation took place in
1856. Rev. Apple was followed by Rev. Richard P. Thomas, who preached to
them from April i, 1858, to April 1,1863. He was succeeded by Rev. T. J.
Barkley, who remained till January i, 1867. Rev. T. F. Stauffer served them
from May, 1867, till September, 1861. The church has had much difficulty in
procuring a separation from the Lutheran interests, and has not had regular
pastors since. Rev. J. B. Welty, Rev. John McConnel and others have served
them since 1874. The township has seven schools, and 192 pupils enrolled.

PENN TOWNSHIP.

The application for the organization of this township had been in court for
ten years, and was finally favorably considered on February 23. 1855. It was
named in honor of William Penn, and was carved from portions of Hempfield,
Franklin, Salem and North Huntingdon townships. Included within its bounds
is the noted "Manor of Denmark," one of the two special reservations of our
county that were set aside for the Penns exclusively. It is one of the most
fertile townships in the county, and is bounded on the west by the Allegheny
county line ; on the south by North Huntingdon and Hempfield townships ; on
the east by Hempfield township, and on the north by Salem and Franklin town-
ships. Across it runs the Forbes Road, as cut by Fcrbes in 1758 when on
his way west to capture Fort Duquesne. The surface of the township is hilly,
and the farms are well cultivated. It has an abundance of bituminous coal
which is easily mined. The veins are generally over six feet in thickness, and
have added greatly to the wealth of the township. One of the early settlers of
the township was Andrew Byerly, whose exploits as a pioneer and Indian
fighter have been considered elsewhere. Other early settlers were Balthazer
Myers, the noted school teacher and preacher; the Ewings, Fritchmans, Mc-
Williams, Kemerers, Brinkers. Finks, Knappenbergers, Keisters , Helslers,
Snyders, Berlins, Lauflfers, Gongawares, Waugamans, Blackburns, Millers,
Walthours, Shusters, Sowashes, Newdorfers, Kifers, Klines, Clarks and others.
In the early days the standard of education was not very high. The old time

HISTORY OF U'ESTMORELAXD COUXTV.

6ii

schoolmasters went around in the fall after the farmers had housed their corn,
potatoes, etc., with a subscription book, and tried to raise the necessary num-
ber of scholars to remunerate them for their winter's teaching. The text-books
used were the "New England Primer," "The United States Spelling Book,"
the "Western Calculator," and the Bible and Testament. The pupils, it is said,
were each compelled to commit the catechism to memory. The writing de-
partment was exclusively by written copies at the top of the page, which were
made by the master himself with a quill pen. "Setting copies," mending pens,
and whipping pupils occupied no small part of the school-teacher's time. The
school hours were from eight in the morning until five in the evening, with an

his house was built about 1790 by Henry Keifer. It is on the Philadelphia & Readina Railroad, near Penn Statioi

hour's recess at noon for dinner. In that day all who could not afford to pay
the teacher for their tuition were neglected, and there were many in each town-
ship who did not attend school at all in their youth. Some, however, who did
attend school who were too poor to pay their tuition, had their tuition paid by
the county commissioners upon a certificate from the county officers that they
were unable to pay, and notwithstanding that had gone to school.

The Reformed Lutheran Congregation in this township was organized
about i8oS or 1809. The first ministers have been frequently named heretofore
in connection with the church work in other townships. They were such as

6i2 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

Rev. John William Weber, IMichael John Steck and John ^Michael Stack and
Rev. N. P. Hacke. The first church building was built by Peter Henkel as
contractor, and he was to build a church thirty-eight by forty-six feet and was
to receive $225 for the mason work. All the material needed in its erection was
to be furnished him on the ground. The carpenter work was done by Jacob
Dry, and his contract called for $600, which included the painting, glazing, etc.
The work was begun on May 12, 1814. A debt on this church still remained as
late as 1825, when it was paid in full by subscription. The church grounds
were owned by Conrad Knappenberger and Jacob Brinker. The church was
built without flues or chimneys, and they at first ran a stovepipe through a
broken window-pane, and later made a hole through the side of the building.
This is noted to show how little they knew of architecture in that day. Long
after this, when the stovepipe had set the house on fire, though not sufficient
to burn the building, a chimney was built, as it should have been in the be-
ginning.

The Beulah United Presbyterian Church was situated on Byers Run, in
the northwestern part of the township, and was organized in June, 1845. Its
first minister was William Connor, who served them until 1858 and died in
1864. He was succeeded by Rev. Walkinshaw, T. F. Boyd, U. R. Rankin and
others. The Presbyterians, Catholics and Methodists have each organizations
in the present Penn borough.

Penn township has within its borders one of the most historic spots in
western Pennsylvania, viz. the battlefield of Bushy Run, fought by the brave
Swiss commander, Henry Boucjuet. In August, 1883, the one hundred and
twentieth anniversary of the battle was appropriately celebrated on the field.
The battle having been described in the pages relative to the early history of the
county, no further reference to it here is necessary.

The township has twenty-eight schools, with 1176 pupils enrolled.

MANOR.

The handsome little town of Manor is the outgrowth of the Pennsylvania
Railroad, which was finished in 1852 as a single track road, and up to that date
was surrounded by forests, though fairly well settled by a colony of hardy pio-
neers. This section was known as Denmark Manor, being one of the two
rnanors or estates procured from the heirs of William Penn. In 1783 Stofel
W^althour built a mill on Brush creek, the first and only building for a number
of years. Messrs. Ludwick, Miller and Berlin purchased the ^^'ard farm and
laid out the town of Manor in 1873, which was incorporated in 1884. It con-
tains a Presbyterian, Lutheran, Methodist and Reformed churches, a fine school
building, three hotels and twelve stores, two handle factories, a flour mill, a
cement block factory and a National Bank. It is the terminal of the Manor Val-
ley Railroad. One of its leading industries is the Beamer Handle Works, which
manufactures all kinds of hickory handles. They are one of the leading'handle
factories in the state and ship their product to all of the eastern cities and states.
It has four schools, with 176 pupils.

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 613

PENN BOROUGH.

This town is located on the Pennsylvania Railroad, six miles west of
Greensburg. It was laid out in 1859 by J. H. Oliver and the Penn Gas Coal
Company. It was incorporated in 1865 by petition of its inhabitants, and al-
though its incorporation was remonstrated against by its own citizens, on Oc-
tober 19th the court granted the prayer of the petitioners and its incorporation
became complete. On Friday, November 2, 1865, they held their first borough
election at the house of Ralph Pratt.

About 1854 George Seancr and J- H. Robinson purchased the land on
which Penn Station is now located, and opened the North Side Pit, which they
operated as a cart mine, shipping the coal to Pittsburgh, where they had a
retail yard. In 1859 the South Side mine was opened by William Coleman, J.
H. Robinson and others. John F. Wolf opened a general store in 1859. J. H.
Oliver bought the meadmv land lying between the railroad and Brush Creek
and laid it out into lots, offering fifty dollars premium to those putting up
houses. The first season J. C. Rankin built a hotel known as the Eisaman
House. Few small boroughs have more industries within their midst than
Penn. The large pipe works of the American Foundry and Pipe Company
give employment to a large force of men. The Hockensmith Wheel and Mine
Car Company is another large plant, the product of which goes to all parts of
this country. The large coal beds of the Penn Gas Coal Company are a great
source of wealth to the place. The mines are operated by electric mining appli-
ances. There are three churches in this place: Methodist, Lutheran and Ro-
man Catholic. It has four schools, with 197 pupils enrolled.

ST. CLAIR TOWNSHIP.

The territory now comprising St. Clair township was originally a part of
Fairfield township, and was separted from it in 1856. It was named in
honor of the patron saint of Westmoreland county. Major General Arthur St.
Clair. It is bounded on the north by Indiana county, on the east by Laurel
Hill ; on the south by Fairfield township, and on the west by the Conemaugh
river. In territory it is the smallest township in the county. Its surface is gen-
erally hilly. The central part of the township is farther removed from the
mountains and consequently is reasonably productive. The main line of the
Pennsylvania Railroad passes along the bank of the Conemaugh river and
thrcaigh this township, and has built on it the towns of New Florence and
Nineveh. It has four schools, and 138 pupils enrolled.

NEW FLORENCE.

New Florence borough was incorporated on the 27th of May, 1865, upon a
petition of its leading citizens. It is located on the Conemaugh river and the
Pennsylvania Railroad. It was laid out, we believe, by Judge Robert Given,

6i4 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

formerly an associate judge of Westmoreland count}'. It is pleasantly located
and has recently constructed a complete system of waterworks which conveys
from the mountains near by an abundance of pure mountain water.

The churches are the Methodist, Catholic, Presbyterian and United Pres-
byterian. The borough has four schools, and i8r pupils enrolled.

CHAPTER XLV

Miscellaneous. — New Court House. — The Evans Execution. — The Year of the Frost.
— Visit of Lafayette.

In the last decade of last century the courthouse which was built in 1854
was not only greatly in need of repairs, but was found to be entirely too
small, and inadequate in every way to accommodate the rapidly increasing
court business of the county. It was believed also that the old building could
not be remodeled economically so as to meet the demands of the county. On
May 19, 1894, the grand jury recommended the erection of a new courthouse,
and several other grand juries made the same recommendation. On January
30, 1897, the court of quarter sessions approved a recommendation to that
effect made by two successive grand juries. The county commissioners at
once called for plans and specifications for a new structure. Those of William
Kauffman, of Pittsburgh, with some important changes from the original,
suggested by the judges and the committee of the bar, were finally adopted
by the commissioners, and approved by the court on June 29, 1901.

On August 2, 1901, a contract was awarded for the removal of the old
building, and on August 10 the court directed the removal of the records
to a structure on South Main street, which had been provided for their re-
ception and for a temporary courthouse. On October 23 a contract was
awarded for the excavation and foundation of the new structure. On April
28, 1902, a contract for the erection of the courthouse was awarded
to the Lindsey Construction Company, but it was not approved by either
of the judges. On September 26 two of the commissioners awarded the con-
tract to Caldwell .& Drake, the other commissioner dissenting. This award
was not approved by the judges. On June 8, 1903, after advertising for and
receiving bids, the commissioners rejected all bids and advertised again. On
July 23 the commissioners awarded the contract to Messrs. Miller & Sons,
of Pittsburgh, and the contract was approved by one of the judges. In all
but the last, the contracts failed because the proper agents of the county did
not agree on the business propriety of concluding them, having in mind the
best interests of the county.

Exceptions to the method of letting this contract were taken by the con-
troller of the county. The matter of the exceptions was heard by the com-
mon pleas court, and by writ of error it was carried to the superior and thence

6i6 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

to the supreme court of the state. Each court sustained the contract. The
questions involved need not be repeated here, for they are found in the su-
perior and supreme court reports. The last decision was not rendered, how-
ever, till 1904. Almost at once after that, the work was begun by those to
whom the contract had been awarded. The structure is now nearing com-
pletion, and will be ready for occupancy early in 1907. It stands on the north-
west corner of Main and West Pittsburgli streets, occupying the same ground
used for that purpose since Greensburg became a county seat in 1785.

The new courthouse is a magnificent and imposing structure, its golden
dome towering high above the surrounding buildings. Its architecture and
finish would not be discredited if compared with those of the best buildings

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 617

in our largest cities. It is claimed to be the finest rural courthouse in the
United States. The large cities have larger structures, but none of them are
more complete nor more elegantly built than the new Westmoreland court-
house.

The building occupies a space 157 feet long and 87 feet deep, with a cen-
tral pediment flanked by two circular bays, projecting eight feet six inches
from the body of the building. This central pediment contains the main en-
trance lobby of the first story, fronting on Main street. The building con-
tains a basement and sub-basement, above which are five additional stories
and a mezzanine story. The main entrance to the basement is situated on
\^'est Pittsburg street, and is two steps above the pavement. There is also
an outside entrance to the basement on JNIain street.

The main, or first story, contains the principal offices of the county of-
ficials, with annexes, or transcribing rooms, in the basement and storage rooms
for records in the mezzanine stories. The first story is also connected with
the jail by a bridge. The second story contains the two main court rooms,
also the orphans' court room, law library, attorney's, witness and consultation
rooms, judges' chambers, jury retiring rooms, grand jury rooms, etc. The
third story contains one court room, jury rooms, and dormitory, the offices
of the jury commissioners and county superintendent of schools, etc. The
fourth story contains three court rooms, jury and witness rooms, judges
chambers, etc.

The rotunda in the centre of the building is situated directly under the
dome, and extends up through all the stories, receiving light from the four
large semi-circular windows in the dome. This rotunda contains the stair-
ways and elevators. Entirely separated from this public rotunda and stair-
way is a private hall and stairway, to which the public have no access, and
which communicates with all the court rooms, jury rooms, and with the bridge
to the jail, thus enabling all official business, such as the going and coming
of jurors, and the transferring of prisoners from the jail to the courtrooms,
to be transacted without interference with the public.

The building is equipped with all the most modem appliances for use,
convenience and comfort, such as a complete system of telephone service with
private exchange, combination electric and gas lighting systems, most ap-
proved system of steam heating and mechanical ventilation and temperature
regulators, best of sanitary plumbing, with public lavatory and private lav-
atories for officials, ice water on each floor, mail chute, high-speed ele-
vators, etc.

The public hall and rotunda have walls finished with English veined
Italian marble with colored inlaid panels ; the floors and ceilings are finished
with colored marble mosaic in ornamental designs. The grand stairway is
constructed of marble, other stairways and elevators are of bronze. The first
and second stories are finished in Saint Jago and San Domingo mahogany;
the remainder of the building in quartered white oak. All the furniture is of

6i8 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

special design to harmonize with tlie various rooms and apartments. All
the file cases, book racks, etc.. are constructed of metal.

The building is strictly fire-proof in every respect. It is designed on
classic lines adopted to modern requirements, each facade having a central
pediment flanked by wings. The entire mass is surmounted by a central dome,
the top of which is 175 feet above the pavement. The exterior walls are
faced with a light grey granite quarried at North Jay, Maine. The small
domes crowning the circular bays and the main central dome are covered with
ornamental glazed terra cotta. the roof being made of pure gold leaf with orna-
mentation, enrichment, high lights, etc., glazed in old ivory tone. The roofs
of the remainder of the building are covered with red vitrified Grecian pan tile.
The tvmpanum of the front pediment on Main street is enriched with sculp-
ture carved in granite in bold relief, representing Art and Industry, under
the protection of the Shield of the Nation. The pediment is crowned with
a group of statues in terra cotta. composed of three female figures, the' cen-
tral figure representing the Goddess of Justice, the other two representing
Law and the People. Upon the face of the two large cartouche, between the
arches over the main entrance, is carved the seal of the county of Westmore-
land and the seal of the state of Pennsylvania.

Not being completed it is impossible to give the entire cost of its construc-
tion. It \\'\\\ approximately be one million two hundred and fifty thousand
dollars.

Few events in our countv have been so long remembered and so much talked
of as the hanging of Joseph Evans on April 20, 1830. The event for nearly two
generations marked an epoch in our history. A half a century afterwards old
men, in talking of the past, would speak of incidents as having occurred before
or after Evans was hanged. Large crowds of later dates were compared with
that which assembled here when Evans was executed. It did more, it fixed
the year of 1830 in the minds of our people so that they inadvertently referred
to that year even when Evans was neither mentioned nor thought of. It was
indeed a great event in the cc^mty. It was the first and the last public execu- .
tion in Greensburg. It is quite probable that for fifty years at least there was
not so great an assemblage of people here. They came in wagons, on horseback
and on foot, from all sections of the county and from all the surrounding coun-
ties. Many came on foot a distance of thirty miles to witness the execution.
The country people seemed to abandon their work at home and make long jour-
neys in order to be present. The idea of attending the hanging seemed to per-
vade the entire county. Young men and women caught the spirit and came
with the middle aged and old, all bent alike on witnessing this great event.
Two young girls of good family, living about twenty miles from Greensburg,
were prohibited by their parents from attending, most likely because the con-
veyances were all in use that day. But they stealthily arose about three o'clock
in the morning, stole away from home and walked all the way to Greensburg
to witness it.

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 619

At the time of his execution Evans was about twenty-two years old. In
1829 the Pennsylvania canal was being constructed and he came to our county
as a day laborer, on that part of it which passed through Derry township. One
Sundav evening he had a dispute with a man named Cissler about stealing a
pair of shoes, but they became good friends again over a pint of apple brandy.
On the night before Christmas he amused himself by whistling "Boyne Water,"
in the presence of three Irishmen who at once attacked him vigorously. Evans
fought, defending himself and with success, but from that came his undoing.
On the dav before New Year he and others were preparing for the approaching
holiday by drinking whisky and playing cards. Evans was in company with
Cissler and with the Irish with .whom he had quarreled. A general fight soon
ensued, in which Evans was almost alone, for he was unpopular and disliked
by most of his associates. To defend himself he seized a shovel, and swung it
back and forth before him to keep them away from him. Cissler was not in the
fight against Evans at all, but interposed to stop the quarrel. Unfortunately
he came too near and received a blow in the forehead from- Evans' shovel. Cis-
sler fell heavily and struck the back of his head on an iron kettle. Whether
he was killed from striking his head against the kettle, or from the blow of the
shovel, is not known. He breathed but a few times and died without having
spoken.

Evans made no attempt to escape. A large crowd surrounded him and at-
tempted to tie him. This he resisted so violently that they were glad to let him
alone. He then took the rcpe and tied his own legs, whereupon the mob began
to beat him. Upon this he untied the rope, and again defended himself by
slashing around indiscriminately. Finally he was taken to Bairdstown for a
hearing before Squire Scott, upon whose commitment he was lodged in jail in
Greensburg, on January 2, 1830. In February following he was tried before
Judge John Young, and found guilty of murder in the first degree.

On April 14, 1830, he made a confession, or, more properly speaking, a
statement, which was published in the Westmoreland Republican, issued April
.-23, 1830. From this statement it is learned that he was naturally of a wild
disposition, but perhaps no worse morally than his associates. He confessed
that he had repeatedly engaged in fights, and had assisted in tarring and feath-
ering and riding on a rail two disreputable men. He also shaved the mane and
tail of a horse belonging to a Methodist preacher, and he says that he so "lath-
ered" the preacher that he was laid up for two weeks. He comments very
severely on some of the evidence against him, and affirms that it was entirely
false. In all probability Evans' statement contained much more truth than the
testimony against him. Public opinion long ago vindicated him against being a-
real murderer.

By ciir law then he was publicly executed. The execution took place on
the hillside east of the old borough limits, near a cluster of oak trees which
stood on the line now occupied by the Southwest Pennsylvania railroad. The
exact spot is said tc be four hundred and fifty feet south of the junction of

620 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

Brewery and Urania avenues. Great preparations were made in Greensburg
for the entertainment of the multitude and for tlie execution. At one o'clock
p. m. on April 20, the Westmoreland Artillery company under Major John B.
Alexander, and the Greensburg- Blues under Captain ^Morrison Underwood,
appeared in front of the court house. John Klingcnsmith, Jr., was the sheriff,
and brought Evans from the jail. He was attended by Revs. Steck, Hacke,
Laird and Meckling, and also by many county officials and leading citizens of
Greensburg. A hollow square was formed by the military companies, and the
procession moved slowly to the place of execution, with the condemned man
walking behind a cart which contained his coffin. Evans was perfectly com-
posed throughout the entire proceedings. He addressed the people from the
gallows, and attributed his unfortunate end to drinking and gambling. He ad-
monished all his hearers to abstain from these evils. The assembly was also
addressed by Revs. Laird, Hacke and Steck, and at Evans' request all joined in
singing a hymn. With his last words he asserted his innocence of intending
to kill any one, and, least of all, Cissler. He also again stated that great in-
justice was done him by the witnesses against him. whom he, however, forgave,
he said, as he hoped for forgiveness. After he was hanged his body was in-
terred under the gallows, but it is supposed to have been taken from the grave
the night following.

In the early days of June, 1859, came a few days of unusually cold weather
for that season of the year. The spring had been an early one and vegetation of
all kinds was far advanced. The evening of June 4th was remarkably chilly
and many a careful housewife covered her tender plants lest they might be frost-
bitten. The next morning when our people stirred from their houses they
found that the cold of the night before had so increased that all vegetation was
totally destroyed. For almost a generation after that the year was designated
not as 1859, but as "the year of the frost." It was in reality mcTe than a frost ;
it was a regular freeze, almost like one would expect in the latter part of winter.
It covered a region reaching from the Northwestern lakes, southeastward
through northern Indiana and Ohio, and, crossing western Pennsylvania, spent
itself in Maryland and northern Virginia. It did not extend east of the Alle-
gheny Mountains nor south of the Ohio river.

All fields of wheat, rye and corn were cut down and in an hour ct so after
the sun came up every blade, stalk or sprout had withered and died. These
plants were entirely destroyed, even their roots being killed. In many instances,
fields of wheat, corn or rye were plowed up and sowed with buckwheat : others
were planted with potatoes.

A great depression prevailed in all this community. It was the gloomiest
day most of the farmers had seen in all their lives. They believed a great
famine must generally prevail. Many talked that it was probably the begin-
ning of the end of the earth, and as we had had "rumors of wars," and now an
inevitable famine, it was a very easy matter to prove their forebodings in some
degree, by quotations from the Bible. And they were acting in good faith,

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 621

too, as far as the famine was cciicerned, for many of them invested all they
had in grain. :Many borrowed money to invest in flour, which at once began
to sell at exorbitant prices. In some instances the object was to speculate, for
they purchased much more than they could possibly use. But many others laid
up a stock sufficient, as they hoped, to tide them over the famine till another crop
could be planted and harvested. Some men who were wealthy were broken up
by the venture, and were not pitied very much by their neighbors. In a few
days it was found that the granaries of the west were full, and those who had
purchased flour, of any grade, so that it was flour, found they had a musty
stock on their hands which they could not dispose of at any price. Flour
which they had paid twenty to thirty dollars per barrel for was found to be
musty, and they were glad to sell it at any price, even at two dollars per barrel.
All garden vegetables were frozen beyond sprouting, the same as grain.
All fruits of the orchard were likewise killed and the wild fruits of the woods
met the same fate. It was indeed a very gloomy outlook for a few days until
news of plenty in other states and that the frost was but a local event, came to
cheer the drooping spirits of our people. The loss of our crops scarcely changed
the markets of our community, for even then our facilities for transportation
were such that an abundance to supply every one was soon on its way to the
afflicted district. Had such a misfortune come upon cur community ten or
twenty years earlier, when our best method of transportation from the west
was by wagons, it would indeed have likely resulted in a famine. It has been
said moreover, that we never had better crops of potatoes, buckwheat and all
plants of late summer growth, than we had that summer, as though nature
tried in part to atone for her affliction of June 5th.

A great event in Westmoreland's early history was the visit of Lafayette as
he passed through on his way to Pittsburgh. The sacrifices which he made
during the Revolution that he might aid the great struggle for freedom in
America, are too well known to need a repetition here. Nearly fifty years had
passed away since the war had ended. Lafayette's life had since been scarcely
less notable in France than it had been with us during the Revolution. He
came to America in 1824, this time as an elderly man of sixty-seven, and made
a complete tour of our country as it then existed. Throughout the entire
L'nion our people vied with each other in turning out to do him honor. There
was no man living after Washington's death who was so deeply revered as
Lafayette.

Passing through the eastern states and cities first, he came west from Wash-
ington City and first visited Uniontown and Fayette counties, and came into
Westmoreland on Saturday, May 27. 1825. He passed down the river on his
way to "Braddock's Field." Major John B. Alexander, with his artillery com-
pany on horseback and two field-pieces, left Greensburg the night before, so as
to be there when the revered French patriot would first cross the line of our
county. They went about eight miles, and then encamped till morning. Early
in the morning they were joined at General Markles' by a part of Captain Pink-

622 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

erton's company with another field-piece. They were joined by many private
citizens from the surrounding country, and all were under the command of
Major Alexander. They halted at Lebanon schoolhouse at about eleven o'clock.
The three field-pieces were placed en the hill immediately back of the school
house. ]\Ien were placed on the surrounding hills who signalled from one to
another the exact time when the nation's guest passed over the county line,
upon which thirteen guns were fired. In a short time General Lafayette and
his suite, escorted by fifty or sixty citizens of Fayette county, all mounted, ar-
rived. Lafayette reviewed the troops, shaking each by the hand, after which
all partook of refreshments, provided by General Markle. Many hundreds
of people were introduced to and shock hands with him, and among others was
an old Revolutionary soldier named Sterrett, of Rostraver township, who had
fought under Lafayette at Brandywine. His meeting with this old veteran
was said to be most interesting and affecting. Lafayette examined the brass
four-pounder belonging to Major Alexander's artillery corps and said that,
while it was evidently a Spanish piece, it had not been used by the British at
the battle of Saratoga, as was generally supposed. The great Frenchman paid
his respects to a number of ladies who had assembled to see him. Fresh horses
were then hitched to his phaeton, and he was escorted to Beazel's tavern,
where the party journeying with Lafayette were entertained with further re-
freshments. From there they were escorted to Elizabeth, where he and his
party embarked in a four-oared boat, and were rowed down the Monongahela
to Braddock's Field, reaching there about sunset.

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. ■ 62.5

POPULATION OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY, 1790-1900

(Taken from the United States Census by decades)

Township, Borough and City

1790

1800

1310

1820

1830

1840

1850

1860

1870

1880

1890

1900

Allegheny Township

1388

.2058

1483

3329

1888

1710

20.50

2316

3175

Adamsbure (Borough)

263

236

199

184

Arnold (Borough)

1426

Arona (Borough)

832

Avonmore (Borough)

Bell Township

9oi

'sio

1064

lies

790

Burrell Township.

1729

1819

Bairdstown

284

Bunker Hill (Borough)

Bridgeport (Village i

looi

Bolivar (Borough)

40

298

■378

410

'486

Cook Township

1036

875

1256

1226

664

1175
674

Cokeville (Borough)

Crab.ree (Village.)

514

Donegal (Borough)

192

'183

163

'i57

Derry (Borough 1

1968

2347

Derry Township

230 i

3890

1640

5467

4685

49.59

6909

7163

9495

2564

2052
1516

2261
1774

2652
1873

1389
2000

1243
4404

1319
8109

1341

10..587

East Huntingdon Township

1383

2134

East Grefn!,burg (Borough)

1050

Fairfield Township

2652

2422

2035

35.52

26i4

1895

ieii

1757

1805

Franklin Township

1757

2168

2320

2560

1760

1796

1704

1754

2719

Greensburg (Borough)

771

810

1051

1349

1642

2500

6508

Hempfield Township

3885

4565

4772

5935

5651

5819

6286

9948

9256

Hecla (Village)

610

Hyde Park(Borough)

'313

Irwin ( Borough!

833

1414

2128

2452

Jeannette (Borough)

3296

3865

Ligonier Township

I9i6

226i

2582

2365

2434

2646

2790

3934

Ligonier (Borough)

294

378

350

317

634

782

1359

Lovalhanna Township

1126

1258

850

813

848

930

767

Latrobe ( Borough)

757

1127

1815

3.i89

4614

Livermore (Borough)

165

211

164
940

211
839

175
1019

Lower Burrell Township

Ludwick (Borough)

'299

.533

891

464

Mt. Pleasant (Borough)

■554

■534

497

1197

3652

2197

Mt. Pleasant Township

2026

2381

2123

2576

2469

2547

4224

7788

10,228

862

MLdison°(Boro'ugh )..'^.'.'^^.'.'.'.'.'.'.'J.

isib

'261

'961

Manor (Borough)

684

Monessen (Borough)

2197

North Huntingdon Township

22i7

3170

i838

2570

2798

3443

6341

7i2.5

7438

New Alexandria 'Borough)

406

305

335

338

364

New Florence (Borough)

333

531

683

800

North Bellvernon( Borough)

'.'.'.'.

208

435

810

New Kensington (Borough)

46&5

New Salem (Borough)

381

North Irwin (Borough)

403

Penn Township

2169

2433

2798

38ii

5321

Penn (Borough)

820

604

931

763

Parnassus (Borough )

520

516

1791

Pleasant Unity (Village)

388

Rostraver Township

1679

1721

1880

2087

2.583

2786

32.S1

6231

South Hntingdon Township

2004

2294

2793

1470

2264

2210

3005

3674

4758

Salem Township

1965

2294

1864

2065

2132

2124

1851

2395

2587

Salem (Borough)

200

299

419

488

440

311

Sewicklev Township

1608

1689

1936

2372

3457

3997

4548

St. Clair Township

956

777

783

836

1122

Scottdale (Borough)

1275

2693

4261

Scott Hiven (Village) : ....

.525

Sutersville

812

South East Greensburg (Boro )....

'620

South Greensburg (Borough)

700

Southwest Greensburg (Boro.)..

831

Unity Township

2336

2990

3003

4152

3400

3624

4079

5494

9402

Upper Burrell Township

714

606

.555

2076

Vandergrift Heights"(Borough! . '.'.

1910

Washington Township

1478

2153

{930

2076

1387

i-iie

ieoi

1624

1797

West Newton (Borough)..

771

■549

1475

2285

2467

Youngstown (Borough)

6,018

22,726

26,392

30,540

38,400

'415
9,326

51,726

360
53,239

301
>8.719

294

486

771

Totals

78,036

112,819

160,175

Note.— In 1790 the County had one hundred and twenty-eight slaves; in 18110, one hundred an
1810. twenty slaves, and in 1820, five slaves.

CHAPTER XLVl

SPECIAL BIOGRAPHIES.

Maj. Gen. Arthur St. Clair. — William Findley. — Alexander Johnston. — William F.
Johnston.— Joseph Markle. — William Larimer, Jr. — Gen. James Keenan. — John W.
Geary.— Richard C. Drum.— John Covode.— Dr. Alexander M. Milligan.

MAJOR GENERAL ARTHUR ST. CLAIR is the most noted historic
name connected with Westmoreland county. Naturally, it is true, he belongs to
the nation, and not to any particular locality. Nevertheless he lived here when
not in the Revolution, or performing other public duties which called him away,
for over fifty years. Here too he ended his days in poverty and neglect, and
here on one of our hills in Greensburg he rests at last in peace, and, be it said
to our shame, without a monument to suitably commemorate his greatness.

He was born at Thurso Castle, in Scotland, and sprang from one of the
most noted British families. His people were of Norman birth. In the line
of his ancestry were knights, earls, lords and dukes, many of whom had battled
for English and Scotch supremacy, and whose names have been for centuries
embalmed in the poetic and legendary lore of English story.

He was born April 3, 1736, the son of William and Margaret (Balfour)
St. Clair, who by reverses of fortune on the part of their immediate forbears
had lost most of their extended ancestral possessions, and were at the time of
his birth without great influence at the court of St. James or in their native
land. The remnant of the original estate possessed by William St. Clair was
moreover entailed by the law of primogeniture, so that Arthur, being the young-
est, could not hope to inherit any part of the impoverished possessions. He
therefore took up the study of medicine in the University of Edinburgh. His
father died, and he removed to London that he might have the benefit of hos-
pital practice in the world's greatest metropolis. There he entered the office of
Dr. William Hunter, then regarded as one of the first physicians of London.

But about that time a war broke out between England and France, the
American part of it being known as the French and Indian war. Murray,
Monckton and the brave and romantic young Englishman, General James
Wolfe, were raising an army to carry the war against the rock-bound city of
Quebec, in Canada, then under the dominion of the French government.
Under the new ministry of William Pitt, enthusiastic young men from every
calling in life abandoned their pursuits and enlisted in the service of the crown.
War was shaking Europe and America. The streets of London were filled
with the sounds of the bugle and the steady tread of grenadiers. St. Clair,
like many other talented young men, could not resist. With the assistance of .
his family he purchased an ensign's commission, dated May 13, 1757, and sailed
for America with Admiral Edward Boscawen's fleet, the same which brought
to our shores the historic army of General John Forbes. He was in the gen-
eral army of General JeiTrey Amherst, whose object was the capture of the
northern forts, and was in the division of this army which was commanded by

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 625

General James \\'olfe. His first experience in arms was therefore in one of the
most daring and romantic military expeditions in American history. He was
with the army the night they silently floated down the St. Lawrence and landed
under the shadowy Heights of Abraham, since known as Wolfe's Cove. He
heard Wolfe repeat the "Elegy in a Country Churchyard" which the poet Gray
had just published to the world, and of which the General said he would rather
be the author than to take Quebec:

"The curfew tolls the knell of parting day,

The lowing herd winds slowly o'er the lea,
The plowman homeward plods his weary way.

And leaves the world to darkness and to me."

He was with them, too, when under the cover of darkness they crawled up
the hitherto impossible Heights, and was near the brave young Englishman
when he died with the song of battle on his lips, at the very moment of victory.

"The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power,

And all that beauty, all that wealth e'er gave.

Await alike the inevitable hour,

The paths of glory lead but to the grave."

More than this, to add to his superior military training, he was in the Six-
tieth Royal American Regiment, which was organized by the Duke of Cum-
berland for service in the Colcnies, and in the same battalion was General
Lawrence, Colonel Robert Monckton, General Murray and Henry Bouquet,
names without whose brave deeds the French and Indian war would be tame
indeed.

After the taking of the city from the French it was immediately garrisoned
by the English, and St. Clair, among ether young officers, remained in the
fortress. A part of the Sixtieth Regiment was sent to Boston, w^hich was
then the leading city of the Colonies after Philadelphia. St. Clair accompan-
ied them bearing public documents to General Gage, who was his cousin. While
stationed there he met, fell in love with and married Phoebe Bayard. She was
a daughter of Balthazar and Mary Bowdoin Bayard, and was related to the
Temples, the Winthrops, and was in every way a woman of patrician birth.
They were married in Trinity Chapel, Boston, in May, 1760. With her he
received a legacy of 14,000 pounds, indeed a princely fortune as fortunes were
then. Shortly after his marriage he removed to Bedford, Pennsylvania, having
become acquainted with the Penns, who were then Proprietors of the Prov-
ince. As agent for them, he looked after their possessions in the western
part of the Province, and took up lands for himself. In 1767 he was appointed
commander of Fort Ligonier, which position he filled for over two years.
After the opening of the Land Ofiice in 1769 he was closely identified with the
formation of new counties and in the sale and settlement of western lands.
His brother-in-law. Captain Bayard, also came here, and together they took up
large tracts of land in the southwestern part of the county. In these old boun-
daries he is sometimes designated as Lieutenant and sometimes as Captain
St. Clair.

In May, 1770, William Crawford, Thomas Gist, Arthur St. Clair and ethers

40

626 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

were appointed justices of the peace for Cumberland county. A year later,
on the erection of Bedford county, he was appointed to the same position, and
was moreover appointed its iirst prothonotary and clerk of the courts. About
this time he began to advocate the erection of a new county west of Laurel
Hill, and in his correspondence with the Proprietaries urged it mainly because
of the long distance the settlers in this region had to travel to reach the seat of
justice. Finally, when the project materialized in the formation of Westmore-
land county (.1773), he was appointed justice, prothonotary and clerk of the
courts of the new county as he had been in Bedford county. Prior to the be-
ginning of the Revolution he was the leading if not the sole agent of the Penns.
The reader will recall his participation in Dunmore"s war. This haughty Lord
demanded that St. Clair be delivered into the custody of the Virginia authori-
ties. This the Governor most peremptorily refused, and he stated further that
the Proprietary government was responsible for St. Clair's official acts. St.
Clair's greatest work in Dunmore's war was as a private citizen to induce the
inhabitants of Westmoreland not to leave their homes as many of them were
doing. With the Indians and Dunmore's outlaws, the county was in a very
unsettled condition to say the least, and was in great danger of being depopu-
lated. He organized the ablebodied men into a militia for self-defense, and
promised to pay them, and actually did pay them with his own money. It was
then that a chain of blockhouses along the river was constructed. Forbes
in his report in 1758 had recommended that a military road be built from Ligo-
nier to Kittanning for frontier protection. This was at length constructed under
St. Clair's supervision, and a strong fortress was built at Kittanning, which he
named Fort Armstrong, in memory of Colonel Armstrong, the victor over the
Indians at that place in 1756. Even at this time St. Clair had great power with
the Indians. He often held conferences with them, and urged matters with
them in plain words which he was careful to make good. They therefore,
while not always guided by his advice, had the utmost confidence in him. The
Indians and their agents frequently visited with him at Ligonier, and thus he
accomplished a great deal for the safety and advancement of the white settlers
in \\"estnioreland county.

His correspondence at this period with the leading men of Boston, Philadel-
phia, and the east, shows that though he had been an English army officer he
was not in any danger of being a Tory, and that he had most pronounced views
on the impending difficulties between Great Britain and the Colonies. Else-
where we have considered the Hannastown Resolutions of May 16, 1775. St.
Clair was undoubtedly the leading spirit of that convention, though he was too
modest and unobtrusive to say so. The impartial reader cannot but regard his
espousal of the American cause as one of the most independent and signifi-
cant acts in his eventful life. With centuries of royal blood in his veins,
his every tie of kindred and youthful affiliation, his services in the royal army,
and his long and intimate association with the Penns and other Tories of
Philadelphia, apparently bound him indissolubly to Great Britain. But these

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 627

tonds were as gossamer threads to him when they conflicted with the rights
of the oppressed colonies.

In 1775 the Indians in the west had been very troublesome and had repeat-
-edly adopted Pontiac's tactics in making long raids on the east. Congress
therefore appointed commissioners to meet at Fort Pitt to treat with them, and
St. Clair was selected as secretary of the commission. But the conference was
barren of immediate results, and St. Clair was appointed by the commission to
raise an army to chastise the Indians in the Detroit region. They gave him no
financial aid, but that never mattered to St. Clair. He enlisted about five hun-
dred young men who were to furnish their own horses, arms, forage and
provisions and to march at once. At that time General Benedict Arnold was
storming Quebec, and all interests centered there. When Arnold's expedition
failed, St. Clair went to Philadelphia to urge his project on the Continental
Congress. But, instead of sending him and his army to Detroit, he was called
into the Revolution, where it was thought he would be of greater use. In this
way he entered the great war. His first assigned duty was to make arrange-
ments and preparations for war rather than to actively engage in it. He was
commissioned a colonel in the Continental army. His duties were in and around
Philadelphia, where he recruited, drilled and provisioned volunteers. Even
then he began to advance money which was only paid back to him after the war
■had been ended many .years.

His first duty in the actual field of war was to take six full companies to
Quebec, where Arnold had been the victim of misfortune. General Mont-
gomery, chief in command, was killed, and was succeeded by Arnold, who, be-
ing severely wounded, was succeeded by General Thompson, after whose early
death came General Sullivan. St. Clair was already familiar with the St. Law-
rence strongholds. He at once suggested the fortification of a point at Three
Rivers to prevent the British transports from reaching Quebec. To his sur-
prise St. Clair was the one appointed to guard this important point. Sullivan
afterwards reinforced St. Clair's army with many of Thompson's troops, but
they were all beaten back to their original headquarters. Though unlooked-for
misfortunes alone prevented their victory, they retired from Canada with colors
■flying.

St. Clair was next at Ticonderoga, and on Sunday, July 28, 1776, he read to
his soldiers the Declaration of Independence, which had just reached him. In
his report he says that "they threw their hats in the air and cheered for the
cause of^the United Colonies."

In August, St. Clair was made a brigadier-general, and was called to Wash-
ington's army, then in his well managed retreat before General Howe across
New Jersey. He was now for the first time under the eye and direct command
of the great chief, and was with him and fought under his direction at White
Plains, Trenton and Princeton. It is claimed by most of St. Clair's biographers
that he suggested to Washington the movements which culminated in this most
glorious victory, but Bancroft labors hard to prove that he did not do so. No
■one denies, however, that he directed the details of the march, and that his

628 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

brigade — composed of the Xew Hampshire, Connecticut and Massachusetts
troops, with two six-pounders — marched at the head of the advancing army;
nor do they deny that this was one of the few great victories won by Washing-
ton's army during the Revolution. For St. Clair's part in it he was forthwith
made a major-general on the recommendation of Washington.

In the early months of 1777 the outlook was a very gloomy one for the
American colonies. Washington's army had scarcely been able to get away
from Long Island, and the unpaid, unfed and unclcthed army was almost ready
to disband. This condition of afifairs actuated the British army to still greater
efforts, hoping thereby to at once stamp out the rebellion. They therefore set
about to divide the colonies by a line beginning at New York, thence up the
Hudson and by Large George and Lake Champlain to the St. Lawrence river.
General Burgoyne had his army already in Canada, and he was to march by the'
way of Lake Champlain. General Clinton was to go up the Hudson and unite
with Burgoyne as he came down. This division, we need not say, would have
■ greatly weakened each section of the Colonies by stopping all communication,
and it would further have perhaps hopelessly divided the Continental army.

Ticonderoga was then a strong fort in the hands of the Colonial army, and
was situated between Lake Champlain and Lake George. While it was held by
the Continental army, Burgoyne's army could not come south to join Clinton's
army going north. It was therefore at that time a most important point. St.
Clair's success at the battle of Princeton had made him a major-general, passing
General Schuyler and General Arnold, and he was at once selected by Washing-
ton as the one to hold this important point. He w^as given three thousand men,
inadequate of course, but that was all the force which Washington could spare.
He was familiar with the situation and its importance, and was instructed to
hold it at all hazards.

Burgoyne's army came down to Lake Champlain, captured Crown Point
and attacked Ticonderoga in June, 1777. Near by was a high rocky promon-
tory called Mount Defiance, which overlooked Ticonderoga and practicallv com-
manded it. This was inaccessible to the Continental, army because of their
weakness, and was regarded as also inaccessible to the British army. Bur-
goyne stormed Ticonderoga for many days, but was no nearer its capture then
than when he began. Then by ropes and tackle he hoisted cannon to the crest
of Mount Defiance, until he had sufficient amis and force there to overcome
Ticonderoga. St. Clair called his forces together and they all agreed that less
than ten thousand men could not hold Ticonderoga with the Britfeh firmly
fortified on Mount Defiance ; that Mount Defiance should have been seized and
fortified by the .American army, liad they had strength and munitions of war to
do so : that not having men sufficient to fortify it in the first place, they were
much less able to take and fortify it now, and that it w^as therefore best to
abandon the post. St. Clair accordingly began his retreat, and, like Washing-
ton in many instances, showed his finest generalship in getting his armv awav.
Tliey marched to Hnbbardstown and Castleton. thirty miles awav. The British
did not allow them to retreat in peace. No information from St. Clair's armv

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 629

could be received for eight days, and the supposition was that Burgoyne had
captured it. On the 7th cf August his fleeing army was attacked by the British
and German forces, which resulted in a loss of about three hundred of St.
Clair's army. It was in every way a sadly disastrous campaign, the loss to the
American army being not less than one thousand men. All the blame was for a
time put on St. Clair, who did not defend himself but quietly asked ior a court
of inquiry. One was finally granted, with Major-General Benjamin Lincoln
as president. It was a very able court. They entirely exonerated St. Clair,
and then the tide turned somewhat in his favor. Burgoyne, being compelled to
divide his army to pursue the retreating St. Clair, gave General Horatio Gates
an opportunity which he seized, and very soon forced Burgoyne to surrender
his entire army at Saratoga. The British had depended largely on the division
of the Colonies by a union of their armies, but after all their preparations and
glowing prospects the result was the loss of Burgoyne's army. Thus our Col-
onies were held intact, and it has been said that though St. Clair lost a fortress
he saved a State. This is perhaps giving him undue credit, for he could not
have foreseen the result when he abandoned Ticonderoga. His object then
was to save his army, and in this he succeeded splendidly.

Let us now look further into his reasons for retreating. The facts brought
out by the court of inquiry speak very eloquently in favor of St. Clair. Bur-
goyne, when he met St. Clair's army, had 7863 men, while St. Clair had 2200.
Burgoyne surrendered to Gates 142 heavy guns. St. Clair had less than one
hundred second-rate cannon of various sizes, and these were served by inexper-
ienced men. It is hardly necessary, therefore, to further defend his retreat in
this age of general intelligence. Before the commission he made a defense
of which the United States Gazette, in speaking of it, said : "His defense on
that occasion is still extant and exhibits a sample of profound generalship.
Whilst the English language shall be admired it will continue to be an example
of martial eloquence." Pending his trial he was with the army at Brandywine
and \'alley Forge. Then he was detailed to organize the levies of Pennsyl-
vania and New Jersey, and send them to the front as rapidly as possible.

When Arnold turned traitor, Washington scarcely knew whom to trust, but
he selected St. Clair to temporarily take command of West Point. On Septem-
ber 29, 1780, he was selected to sit with Greene, Lafayette, Parsons, Clinton,
Knox, Huntingdon, Stirling, Stark, Hand, etc., as a member of the most noted
military jury that ever sat in this county, to try the unfortunate Major Andre.
They were selected because of their high character both as soldiers and civil-
ians, and because they were educated in the military history of European na-
tions. They unanimously reported that Andre should be considered a spy and
suffer death.

At the closing scenes of the Revolution, when the war-worn armies had
practically surrounded the British at Yorktown, St. Clair was daily in advice
with ^^'ashington, and was not by any means the least of those illustrious men
who stood guard at the final moment, when the long contest was decided in
favor of the Colonies. He had arisen more rapidly in the beginning of the war

630

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

than anv officer of the army. In 1783 he became a member of the Su-
preme Executive Council of Pennsylvania. In all matters relative to the na-
tional policy he was even then a Federalist in principle, though the party had
not yet been formed. In 1785 he was elected a member of Congress, not by
the people, as we now elect, but by the Assembly, as we new elect United States
senators. Two years later, 1787, he was chosen president of the Congress, then
practically the highest office in the government, and which can only be com-
pared to the present office of President of the United States, a position not then
created, but which came with the Constitution of 1787. It was this Congress
which provided for the convention of 1787, by which the Constitution of the
United States was formed, written of as the ablest State paper yet conceived
by the brain of man.

In 1790 St. Clair was the Federalist candidate for Governor of Pennsyl-
vania against Thomas Alifflin. This was the first gubernatorial election in
Pennsylvania under the new organic law. Mifflin was not only very popular
but his party largely predominated in Pennsylvania and he was therefore
elected. On October 5th, 1787, the Continental Congress elected St. Clair gov-
ernor of the Northwestern Territory, which then embraced all the country west
of Pennsylvania and north of the Ohio river. On July 9, 1788, he arrived at
Marietta, Ohio, the capital of the Territory. The citizens of Marietta had
prepared with great care a residence for the new governor and family, which
consisted of his wife, three daughters — Louisa, Jane and Margaret, and his son
Arthur. His prerogatives as governor were very extensive. He was not only
the executive officer of the Territory, but the law-giver as well. He appointed'
judges, and these in council with himself had the power to make laws for the
government of the territory. He erected counties, appointed officers, held
treaties with the Indians, etc. The territory over which he thus ruled now
constitutes five of the leading states of the Union, and has a population of about
sixteen millions. Yet the salary paid him for his services was less even than
his traveling expenses.

Early in June, 1791, he went down the river to Fort Washington and organ-
ized a new county and named it Hamilton, a name it still bears, and given it in
honor of Alexander Hamilton, the brilliant leader of the Federalists. He also
named the new town Cincmnati, in honor of the Society of the Cincinnati, then
a new organization among the officers of the Continental armies, of which or-
ganization St. Clair was a shining light and president of the Pennsylvania di-
vision.

In all this new country he again encountered his old enemies, the hostile
Indians who, having been driven westward, were just then committing all man-
ner of depredations on the Ohio frontiers. General Harmar was accordingly
sent out in 1790 to subdue them, but his army was badly defeated. In 1791 St.
Clair was appointed commander-in-chief of the army, and vested with a military
power in the territory which corresponded with his title. He had an army of
two thousand regular soldiers at his disposal in the contest with the Indians,
and had authority to increase it as he saw fit bv calling out the militia. St.

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 631

Clair visited Philadelphia, the capital of the United States, relative to the ap-
proaching campaign, and Washington gave him special caution about the dan-
ger of surprises in Indian warfare. The President's parting words were, "Do
not let them surprise you." In September, 1791, the army, the largest the west
had yet seen, was assembled at Fort Washington, now Cincinnati. It was much
better equipped finally than the average Revolutionary army, though it was not
by any means an ideal army. There were three regiments of regulars in the
infantry, two companies of artillery, and one of cavalry. Six hundred militia
should have joined them at Cincinnati, but the greater part of them came in as
they journeyed towards the enemy. On September 17th they began marching.
They, as usual in new countries, had to cut roads through the wilderness, and
it was necessarily an army of slow progress. On the Big ]\Iiami river they
erected Fort Hamilton, and some distance farther on they erected Fort Wash-
ington, and still later came Fort Jefferson. At each post a small garrison was
left. They were now nearing the Indian country, and matters began to look as
though a battle might scon take place. Shortly after they left Fort Jefferson
one of the militia regiments deserted bodily. Washington Irving, in speaking
of these militia, says they were picked and recruited from the worst element
in Ohio. Enervated by debauchery, idleness, drunkenness and by every species
of vice, it was impossible to make them competent for the arduous duties of In-
dian warfare. They were without discipline and their officers were not accus-
tomed to being under a commander. They were useless in a campaign, yet St.
Clair thought it would disband his army or at least greatly impair its usefulness
to allow them to desert at will. So he weakened his forces greatly by sending
the First Regiment of Regulars in pursuit of the deserters. His army then
numbered about fourteen hundred, with perhaps three hundred militia. The
main army moved on to a point near the headwaters of the Wabash river, now
in Mercer county, Ohio. It was supposed that the main body of the M.iami
tribe of Indians was about twelve miles from their encampment. Here they
meant to entrench themselves behind earthworks and await the arrival of the
First Regiment with the deserting militia. They encamped on November 3rd,
and the General, with the engineers, immediately laid out the plans for the
proposed breastworks. At night sentries were posted and all was quiet. The
army was encamped on the banks of a tributary of the Wabash and a small
creek. Against regular troops the encampment could easily have been trans-
formed into a stronghold by breastworks as contemplated. Several hours be-
fore the break of day on the morning of November 4, the General had the
reveille beaten and thus brought all troops to line with arms ready for action.
Thus they watched till the sun arose when, there being no sign of danger re-
ported by the outposts, the soldiers were dismissed to get more rest or breakfast.
But scarcely had they reached their places of rest when an irregular volley of
rifle shots came from the front. The Indians had arrived and would doubtless
have begun the attack sooner had it not been that their advance scouts foimd the
soldiers drawn up ready for battle. The drums beat and the officers formed
their men in line. The Indians first struck the line of the militia, which almost

632 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

at once fell back in confusion on the regulars. They were followed by swarms of
Indians, some of whom passed beyond the first ranks and actually tomahawked
officers and soldiers who had been carried back to have their wounds dressed.
In a short time the army of St. Clair was overrun by Indians, who indiscrimi-
nately tomahawked and fired on all sides. St. Clair was suffering from a fever.
Washington Irving in his charming and exhaustive "Life of Washington,"
says : "The veteran St. Clair, unable to mount his horse, was borne about on a
litter, and preserved his coolness in the midst of the peril and disaster, giving
his orders with judgment and self-possession." By his own suggestion he was
carried to a place where the firing seemed heaviest, and where Colonel Drake,
a Revolutionary officer of great bravery and experience, was trying to overconje
the confusion and hold his lines steady. St. Clair directed them to make a
vehement charge with bayonets. The charge did some good, for many In-
dians concealed in the tall grass fled in confusion, but the soldiers were unable
to overtake them. They soon returned again and seemingly in increased num-
bers, and a second bayonet charge was followed with the same results. The
artillery was practically of no use, for the daring Indians killed the men and
horses before they could render any service. The regulars undoubtedly fought
bravely and with much more system and effect than one might expct. Never-
theless the confusion spread from the militia till it pervaded all of the troops.
Behind trees and bushes and concealed in the tall grass were Indians without
number. With their bullets came showers of arrows, the latter seemingly more
painful and exasperating than bullets. The soldiers were necessarily more or
less in line, and this seemed only to aid the Indians and make the loss in killed
and wounded so large in proportion to the size of the army. The usual order
observed in the formation of military ranks was therefore worse than useless
here : in fact, it actually favored the method adopted by the enemy. Two of
the field-pieces were thrown into a stream, and the rest were captured by the
Indians. Countless acts of heroism and daring courage were performed on
that bloody field. They have already challenged the praise and admiration of
four generations, and will yet live as long as any war stories of our border his-
tory. There was but one thing left to be done, and that was to retreat with as
much safety as possible ; at best, the retreat was a confusion. Men threw away
their arms and fled towards Fort Washington, glad to escape captivity and
death. When another and more successful army came later to the same lo-
cality, they found the path of retreat strewn with military accoutrements, and
on the battlefield were the bleaching bones of hundreds of men who must have
perished, each one, almost, within touch of an unfortunate comrade. There
were five hundred and ninety-three reported killed and two hundred and four-
teen woimded. The chief leader of the Indian forces in the battle was Mishi-
kinakwa. He was chief of all the remnant united tribes of the Ohio regions.
He was about six feet high and forty-five years old at the time of the battle. His
picture is yet in the War Department at Washington, D. C. He died in 1812,
and is buried near Fort \\'aync, Indiana.

General St. Clair did not all day require a litter to carry him from place to

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 633

place. When the battle raged and his forces began to wane, the excitement
brought back his strength as though the vigor of his youth had been renewed.
Eight balls passed through his clothes and hat. one of which cut the hair from
the side of his head. Two horses were killed under him just as he had been
helped to mount them. For an hour or so, no horse being near, he moved
about on foot, and surprised all who saw him by the agility he displayed. When
again well nigh exhausted, he was placed on a pack-horse, the only horse that
could be procured, and, though he was scarcely able to prick him out of a walk,
he rode him during the remainder of the day. Adjutant General Winthrop
Sargent, in a private diary, wrote particularly of "St. Clair's coolness and brav-
ery, though debilitated by illness." The unfortunate general was among the
last to leave the field.

After the result of the battle became known, a bitter feeling arose through-
out the United States against St. Clair. The real situation, had it been known
as it is now, would have defended him against all blame. The means of cir-
culating the real truth were extremely limited. At his own request, therefore,
a congressional committee was appointed to investigate the entire af¥air and re-
port their findings. Their report is as follows :

"The committee conceive it but justice to the Commander-in-Chief to say
that in their opinion the failure of the late expedition can in no respect be im-
puted to his conduct, either at any time before or during the action, but that as
liis conduct in all the preparatorv arrangements was marked with peculiar
ability and zeal, so his conduct during the action furnishes strong testimonies
of his coolness and integrity."

When a new expedition was organized under General Anthony Wayne, who
succeeded St. Clair as commander of the army, the latter tendered the benefit of
the information concerning the enemy which he had purchased so dearly. In
reply. President Washington wrote him as follows :

"Your wishes to afford your successor all the information of which you are
capable, although unnecessary for any personal conviction, must be regarded as
additional evidence of the goodness of your heart and your attachment to your
country."

General \\'ayne was successful in 1794 because the nation was by that time
aroused to the serious nature of the contest, and gave him an army which he
drilled for over two years before he gave battle. As Forbes profited by Brad-
dock's defeat, so Wayne remembered St. Clair's disaster, and took precautions
which would have been impossible for St. Clair to take. It seems that in all
wars, defeats are necessary to inspire the people with a true realization of the
magnitude of the situation. No intelligent student pf history claims now that
St. Clair should have been expected to hold Ticonderoga against Burgoyne's
army, or that his army was properly equipped to meet the Indians in 1791.
Notwithstanding all this, public sentiment was for years against him. Even in
the highly educated and considerate age in which we live, there are a few who
are in some degree inclined to forget the great achievements of both his mili-
tarv and civil life, and remember him largely in connection with this unfortun-

634 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

ate defeat which ended his military career. But they are not found among the
enhghtened leaders of public opinion, nor have they carefully investigated the
facts connected with the history of that period.

He was retained as Governor of the Territory until the beginning of
Thomas Jeflferson's administration, in all a period of fifteen years, and was re-
moved by Jefiferson in 1802. As we have said, he was an ardent Federalist and
had unbounded admiration for the centralized power doctrine as advocated by
Alexander Hamilton. Holding such views, he was necessarily antagonistic to
the tenets of Jefferson, whose views were opposite those of Hamilton. St.
Clair had moreover advocated the re-election of John Adams, whose unpopular
administration, favoring among other things the deservedly obnoxious alien
and sedition laws, had elected JefTerson. It was therefore but natural that the
new president should remove him from office. The people of Ohio were largely
JefTersonian in their opinions and were anxious to form a state which could be
brought about only through Jefferson and his friends. St. Clair had the veto
power, which he was often forced to exercise, and to this his people were also
opposed, for they were filled with the idea that the people alone should rule a
state, and as they construed it, the veto power in one man was at war with the
principles of a free government. Their ideas of Democratic equality were hos-
tile to almost every principle which St. Clair, the open and avowed Federalist,
represented.

It is not to be understood that he was absent from Westmoreland county
all the time during which he was governor of the northwestern territory. The
court records show that he was often in the county. On June nth, 1793, he
gave his bond for the appearance of some defendants in court at the next ses-
sions. On May 30 he signed a petition, his name heading it, asking for a road,
and when it was granted the record shows that the order was lifted in Septem-
ber, 1794, "by Gen. St. Clair." A thorough search might reveal evidence of
his being here a great many times, but we deem it unnecessary. St. Clair was
the owner of lands in Westmoreland county for some time before he advocated
the formation of the county. In 1767-68 and '69 he was stationed at Ligonier
as commander of the garrison, and this was probably his first connection with
the count}-. During these years he iiiade application for various tracts of lands
and had them patented on the opening of the land office for this section in 1769.
He was therefore a military resident of the coimty six years prior to its forma-
tion. But on April 5, 1770, he was appointed surveyor of the District of Cum-
berland, and was also a member of the Proprietary Council from Cumberland
county by appointment of the Penns, dated May 23, 1770. Furthermore, he
was appointed a justice in ]May, 1770, of Cumberland county, for that part of
the county lying west of Laurel Hill territory, afterwards included in West-
moreland county. This was the policy of Penn, to appoint a resident of these
outlying sections of the new counties, so that the settlers might at least have an
apparent show of justice. St. Clair must therefore have lived here more or less
in T770, after he ceased to be commandant of Fort Ligonier. In March, 1771,
Bedford county was formed, and he was appointed its first prothonotary, regis-

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 635-

ter, etc., and was again a justice for that part of the new county lying west of
Laurel Hill. It is furthermore admitted generally that his son, Arthur St.
Clair, Jr., was born at Ligonier in 1771, though the date is not known. It is
not easy therefore to determine the exact time that he became a permanent citi-
zen of coir county. When our county was formed (February 26, 1773) he was
appointed first prothonotary, and also a justice of the peace. It is, however,
safe to say that he was connected with the county more or less from 1767, when
he first commanded Fort Ligonier, till 1772, after which time he became a
permanent citizen of Ligonier Valley. He was therefore a citizen of our county
for over iifty-one years. During the years prior to the Revolution his corres-
pondence, which was very extensive, is generally dated at Ligonier, with an.
occasional letter from Hannastown, written when court was in session there.
During the Revolutionary war his family resided in Philadelphia, as will appear
later on.

The office of Governor of the Western Territory did net require his entire'
attention, for he was frequently at Ligonier looking after his property, and
part of the time his family resided there. He built his residence near Fort
Ligonier (a part of which is yet standing and well cared for) before the death
of Washington, for there is a well handed down tradition that Washington
sent him two expert carpenters from near Mount Vernon, who came out on
horseback to do the finer work. Their work was the admiration of the common
people, and is equal to the best work on the old colonial houses. It was cer-
tainly done by expert workmen who could not have foimd regular employment
on the frontier in that age. Washington died in 1799, and was not acquainted
with St. Clair prior to the Revolution. It is probable that it was built during
the latter part of his term of governorship, perhaps looking forward to the time
when he should retire from public life and pass the remaining years of his life-
in ease and comfort in his new residence. It was, or is, situated about one and
a half miles northwest of Ligonier. It is all gone now save one room, torn
down perhaps by the ruthless hand of an ignorant iconoclast who neither knew
of nor cared for its historical associations. The quaintly devised woodwork,
the mantlepiece and wainscoating, no doubt the work of Washington's carpen-
ters, doubtless saved the one room from destruction. It is now in the possession
of Mr. H. S. Denny, who appreciates and preserves it because of its historic
association. Vying in stately simplicity of design and in rich interior with the
woodwork of our best homes in modern times, it bids fair to bear down to com-
ing generations one of the few splendid specimens of Colonial architecture in
western Pennsylvania.

Into this house he moved his family when he returned from the Northwest-
ern Territory, and tried to build up his shattered fortunes, though he was in his
sixty-seventh year. He first erected an iron furnace called Hermitage, near
his residence, and for a time manufactured iron castings of various kinds. In a
few years he leased the furnace property to James Hamilton & Company for
$3,000 per year. The crumbling ruins of the old furnace stack were torn away

■636

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

about 1880 by one who did not appreciate their historic value, and there is left
•of it now only a mound of earth and stones to mark the spot where it stood.

Before the Revoluticn, St. Clair had built a flouring mill on his estate on
]\Iill creek, a tributary of the Loyalhanna, which was, by the way, one of the
iirst mills west of the Allegheny mountains. When he entered the army he
■gave this mill to his neighbors to use while he was gone. But nearly eight
years passed before he returned to find it in ruins. He therefore renewed the
mill, and in many other ways contributed to the good of the people until his
creditors seized his property. The story of his financial difficulties is not a
pleasant one to contemplate. He received with his wife, as we have said,
14,000 pounds, or $70,000. In addition to that he had large tracts of land given
him by the Crown, the Penns, the State of Pennsylvania and by the United
States. He had also made some good land investments. All of his property
was swept away to satisfy his creditors. In a letter to William B. Giles he says
that the office of governor of the Northwestern Territory was forced upon him
by friends who thought it would be an opportunity for him to replenish his for-
tunes, and that it proved otherwise, for he "had neither taste nor genius for
speculation in land, nor did I consider it consistent with the office." He" was
too old to recuperate his fortunes when he returned to Ligonier, and in a few
years was sold out by the sheriff. The most lamentable feature of his em-
barrassment is that his debts were nearly all contracted in the interests of the
republic, and should have been paid by the state or nation and not by St. Clair.
During his last years he presented several memorials to the legislature and to
congress asking, not for charity, but for a simple reimbursement of the money
"he had expended in the public interest. Not a single statement in any of them
■was ever refuted or even denied. In one of them he explains his situation by
■saying that when he entered the Revolultion he could not leave his young wife,
born and bred in the best society of Boston, alone with her children in an un-
protected and hostile frontier. So he was compelled to sell real estate in west-
ern Pennsylvania, upon some of which he had expended large amounts of
money, at a great sacrifice. This was sold for 2,000 pounds ($10,000) in de-
ferred payments. But the purchaser paid him in depreciated Continental cur-
rency, so that of the 2,000 pounds he received only one hundred, that is, one-
twentieth of the sacrifice price. Then he purchased a house in Pottsgrove, near
Philadelphia, for his family to reside in while he was in the army. On selling
this he lost one-half by the bankruptcy of the purchaser.

In a memorial to the Assembly he says that, beginning in 1774, he supplied
nearly all the forts and blockhouses in Westmoreland county with arms and
means of defense at his own expense. To Congress he says that in the darkest
days of the Revolution, when Washington's soldiers were daily deserting him
and the army rapidly melting away because they had not been paid, Washington
liimself applied to St. Clair to save the "Pennsylvania Line," the best organiza-
tion in the entire army. St. Clair accordingly advanced the money for re-
cruiting and for bounty, and put forth such other influence that with the aid of
•Colonel ^^■ilIiam Butler the Line was saved. To this claim the government,

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 637

through its committee of Congress, unable to deny it, pleaded the statute of
limitations. But the indebtedness which directly caused the sale of his real es-
tate was contracted while he was Governor of the Territory. Among other
anomalous duties which he performed there, was to act as Indian agent of the
territory, and as such he negotiated several important treaties. But in paying the
Indians and in supplying them according to the terms of the treaty, the money
appropriated was not generally sufficient, and St. Clair, rather than allow the
negotiations to fail, advanced the money out of his own pocket. In one treaty
he expended sixteen thousand dollars while but eight thousand had been set
aside for it. Eight thousand dollars then was almost a princely sum.

When the army for the disastrous campaign of 1791 against the Indians
was collected at Cincinnati, it was found that the money appropriated for the
purpose was not sufficient to properly equip it. James O'Harra was quarter-
master-general of the army, and was a man of abundant means. St. Clair ob-
ligated himself to repay O'Harra if the latter would furnish the necessary money
so that the army could move on, and it was accordingly furnished. Later, when-
St. Clair presented this bill to the treasury, he was told that there was no money
appropriated to pay bills in excess of the original amount provided for the ex-
pedition. All successive efforts to secure an appropriation were fruitless. St.
Clair had given his bond to O'Harra on the express promise of the Secretary of
the Treasury that it would be repaid with interest. It probably would have
been had Alexander Hamilton remained in office. The face of the bond was
$7,042. It was never paid to St. Clair, not one cent of it. Suit was brought
by James O'Harra in the Westmoreland courts, and St. Clair, not wanting to
contest its payment or validity, cSme into court and confessed j udgment in favor
of O'Harra for $10,632.17, that being the debt and interest. Executions on-
this judgment were issued from time to time, and finally all of his property was
sold from him. The sale could not have taken place at a worse time for St.
Clair, for it was sold when the embargo had driven all the money out of the
country. Property which had been valued at $50,000 was sold and did not bring-
more than the debt, interest and costs amounted to. The suit was brought by
Hugh Ross as attorney for James O'Harra. Alexander Johnston was the
sheriff of Westmoreland when the property was sold. This was in 1808. The
tract of land at Ligonier, including the mansion house and the Hermitage
furnace property, was sold for $4,000, though the furnace and the mill alone
had rented for $3,000 per year. His creditors did not stop with selling his land
but sold also all his personal property, except a few articles which he selected
and which were exempt from sale. Among those selected was one bed and
bedding, a few books from his classical library, and among them was his fav-
orite Horace, whose classic beauty of verse he had long admired, and a bust of
John Paul Jones, King of the Seas, presented to him and sent by Jones himself
from Paris. This he prized very highly and kept till his death.

His claims before Congress were advocated by such men as Joseph Hopkin-
son, the eloquent John Sergeant, and by Henry Clay, the gifted leader from
Kentucky. The Assembly of Pennsylvania pensioned him, and in 1817, a year

,638 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

before his death, increased it to fifty dollars per month. Congress the same
year granted him sixty dollars per month and dated it back a year. There be-
ing no law to forbid it, this was attached by his creditors before it left the hands
of the treasurer, and St. Clair never received one cent of it. Soon after the sale
of his property he was turned out of house and home. Daniel St. Clair, his
son, owned a tract of land on the Chestnut Ridge, above the Four Mile Run, and
to this the old man and his family removed. Broken with the storms of more
than three score years and ten, saddened by the memories of the past, and denied
by ingratitude what was justly due him from his state and nation, he quietly
awaited the last roll call. By this time, too, his wife, formerly the accomplished
Phoebe Bayard, of Boston, had become weakened in intellect and was the addi-
tional care of his old ag-e. To secure bread for his family he entertained trav-
elers, though his house was but little more than a four roomed log cabin. On
January 24, 1814, he was granted a tavern license by the Westmoreland court.

To a truly altruistic man like St. Clair, who had really given of his abund-
ance with a profligate hand to the weak and destitute, poverty, rather than a
disgrace, was a bright and shining crown of glory which now only adds to his
greatness. No one who was capable of appreciating true worth ever came in
contact with him, even when in poverty, who did not recognize at once the
presence of a statesman, a soldier from head to foot, a scholar in the broadest
sense of the term, and a patriot pure and simple. Read his letter to the ladies
of New York who, hearing of his needs, sent him a present of four hundred dol-
lars, and compare it with our best English letters. We can only quote a few
sentences :

"To soothe affliction is certainly a happy privilege, and is the appropriate
privilege of the fair sex. And although I feel all I can feel for the relief
brought to myself, their attention to my daughters touches me most. Had
I not met with distress I should not have, perhaps, known their worth. Though
all their prospects in life (and they were once very flattering) have been
blasted, not a sigh, not a murmur, has been allowed to escape them in my
presence, and all their plans have been directed to rendering my reverses less
affecting to me ; and yet I can truly testify that it is entirely on their account
that my situation ever gave me a moment's pain."

It has been said that St. Clair in his last years was somewhat given to the
use of intoxicants. Though after the general custom of his day he often drank
liquor, there is no authority whatever for the statement that he used it to excess
in any period of his life. The last pen picture of him we have is given below
in full. It refers to a period but three years before his death, when he was al-
most overwhelmed with a mountain of sorrow, yet it is not by any means the
picture of a man overthrown by the use of liquor. There are few public men of
our day who would not feel proud to be described in words like those which
follow. They are from the pen of Elisha Whittlesey who, with Joshua R.
Giddings and James A. Garfield, represented the Ashtabula district in Con-
gress for fifty-six years. Whittlesey was afterwards for many vears an auditor
of the United States Treasury, and therefore, by a life association with distin-

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 639

guished men, could recognize ability when he found it. In a letter to Senator
Richard Broadhead in 1856, he wrote as follows :

"In 1815 three persons and myself performed a journey from Ohio to Con-
necticut on horseback in the month of May. Having understood that General
St. Clair kept a small tavern en the Ridge east of Greensburg, I proposed that
we stop at his house and spend the night. He had no grain for our horses, and,
after Spending an hour with him in the most agreeable and interesting conver-
sation respecting his early knowledge of the Northwestern Territory, we took
our leave of him with deep regret.

"I never was in the presence of a man that caused me to feel the same de-
gree of veneration and esteem. He wore a citizen's dress of black of the Revol-
ution; his hair was clubbed and powdered. When we entered he arose with
dignity and received us most courteously. His dwelling was a common dcuble
log house of the western country, that a neighborhood would roll up in an
afternoon. Chestnut Ridge was bleak and barren. There lived the friend and
confidant of Washington, the ex-Governor of the fairest portion of creation. It
^\•as in the neighborhood if not in view of a large estate at Ligcnier that Ke
owned at the commencement of the Revolution, and which, as I have at times
understood, was sacrificed to promote the success of the Revolution. Poverty
did not cause him to lose self-resp6ct ; and were he now living his personal ap-
pearance would command universal admiration."

St. Clair at no time in the army appeared so great as when under adverse
circumstances he tried to save an army or prevent its destruction. So it may
have been that in the poverty of his declining years only his true greatness as-
serted itself, and ^hone forth all the more brilliantly. At all events, at no time
did he appear to greater advantage. He easily forgot that the nation had taken
the best years of his life and much of his property, and, new in want, another
generation of rulers had refused to recompense him. One sentence from his
letter just quoted is the key to his entire life. "It is entirely on their account
that my situation ever gave me a moment's pain." He always forget himself
when the rights of others or the interests of the state were being considered.
He was president of the Pennsylvania Society of the Cincinnati, and perhaps
more than any other was an exemplar of their motto, "Omnia relinquit servare
republicam."

Here, then, on the mountains, in a log cabin, lived the friend and companion
of Washington, Greene, Steuben, Lafayette, Hamilton, Franklin, Wayne and
Schuyler, and in no small degree did he share their glory. When the Revolu-
tion closed he was one of the leading men of the new nation, whether considered
as a gentleman, a soldier, a scholar, or a statesman. His conversation was al-
ways embellished with wit and wisdom. His manners were those of the pol-
ished society in which his earlier days were spent, and no adversity could
change him in this respect. In his solitary mountain home he was much given
to reflection. Often he was seen wandering alone over the hills and through
the wilderness with his hands behind his back and in deep thought, like Napo-
leon on the bleak and lonely island of St. Helena. He often drove or rode

640 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

down to Ligonier or Youngstown, and at tlie latter place frequently met Will-
iam Findley, our member of Congress and one of the leading men of his day.
At Skyles' tavern they often sat and talked for hours, and around them gathered
their unlettered neighbors to listen to their conversation. St. Clair generally
rode a small gray horse, but sometimes drove in a low wheeled carriage. He
was then described as a tall man with square shoulders, cleanly shaved, and
most dignified in his address. In his youth he was described as being very tall
and graceful, with chestnut brown hair, blue eyes and fair complexion, and
was moreover a complete master of all the accomplishments of the best society
of the age. His portrait given in this work is from a later painting by Peale,
the original of which is in Independence Hall in Philadelphia.

On one occasion St. Clair and Findley were talking, perhaps concerning
measures in Congress for St. Clair's reimbursement. Findley was then a man
of wealth and power; St. Clair was almost an outcast. Findley, with perhaps
the kindliest feelings, said, "General, I pity your case and heartily sympathize
with you." Whereupon the old warrior, broken with years and decay, proudly
drew himself up and with flashing eyes said, "I am sorry, sir, but I can't ap-
preciate your sympathy."

Toasted at a militia muster by a thoughtless admirer as the "brave but un-
fortunate St. Clair," he drew his sword in an instant and demanded that the
offender retract his words. He would not be complimented and commiserated
in a breath; his achievements in the service of England and America, in peace
and in war. were deserving of all glory, without a compromising word of pity
or regret.

On August 30th, 1818, he had driven down the Ridge on his way to Youngs-
town. Most likely he sustained a paralytic stroke, for by some means he feO
from his wagon and lay unconscious by the roadside. He was soon found by
some passersby and taken to his home, where he died the day following, without
regaining consciousness. Three graves were dug for him — one in Unity
Presbyterian graveyard, near the house of Findley, and which was nearest the
temporary home of St. Clair ; one at Ligonier, where he had so long resided ;
and one at Greensburg, the county-seat of the coiuity which was mainly
erected through his efforts. The citizens of the latter place promptly held a
public meeting in the courthouse, adopted appropriate resolutions looking to-
ward his interment in their cemetery, and appointed a committee to wait on
the family and ask that this be selected as his final resting place. This request
was put in the form of a letter to his daughter, Louisa Robb, and was signed by
the members of the committee appointed. The following is the letter, with the
names of the committee attached :

•"Madam : In obedience to the resolution of the corporation and citizens of
Greensburg, we beg leave respectfully to present to the family of General St.
Clair their condolence at the melancholy event of his death. Desirous to express
some small t6ken of respect for the memory of a man whose name is conspic-
uous on the pages of our history as one of the heroes who achieved our inde-

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

641

pendence, we are directed to cbtain permission from the family that the body of
our lamented friend may be deposited near us.

"Mr. Drum will have all necessary arrangements made at Youngstown in
unison with those which are preparing here, to do honor for the occasion.

"We are, Madam, respectfully, James Pcstleitwaite, A. W. Foster, John
Reed, Simon Drum, Jr., John H. Wise, George Armstrong, Daniel Maclean,
Richard Coulter."

"Mrs. Louisa Robb."

Mrs. Robb consented, and his remains were accordingly interred in Greens-
burg. In 1832 an humble monument was erected over his grave by the Masonic
fraternity, and its most appropriate inscription is self-explanatory :

"The earthly remains of Major-General Arthur St. Clair are deposited be-
neath this humble monument, which is erected to supply the place of a nobler
one due from his countrv."

Interior of General St. Clair Home.

Phoebe Bayard, his wife, who was born in 1743, survived him nineteen days,
and was then buried by his side. She was a true matron of the Revolution, and
a woman of heroic mold. Though brought up in the best circles of Boston
society, she willingly accepted her hard life on the rude frontier, and bore its
privations and sufferings with great fortitude and without complaint. Both she
and her illustrious husband contributed greatly to the welfare and prosperity of
the pioneer days of Westmoreland, but the county has done nothing for them.
Their names should be honored and their memory ever cherished by the people
our county. Their heroic privations, self-sacrifices and deeds of noble dar-
ing should be written on the scroll of the nation's history as a perpetual incen-
tive to coming generations to preserve the rich heritage of freedom made pos-
sible to us by such illustrious examples of true nobility.

In the chapters of this work relative to the formative period of the county,
St. Clair"s work in its interests was fully considered and therefore need not be

642 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

repL-atod here. The reader will notice that the date given as that of his birth,
April 3, 1736, is not the usually accepted one, (March 23, 1734). The error
has been but recently discovered by a noted genealogist of the St. Clair fam-
ilv. The Kirk Session Book of Thurso, Scotland, notes that he was born
March 23d, and baptized by Rev. Willliam Innes, March 24, 1736. But eleven
days must be added to ^March 23, because of the new style calendar. This gives
his real birthday as April 3, 1736. He was therefore eighty-two years, four
months and twenty-eight da}s old when he died.

\VILLIA:\I FINDLEY was, after Arthur St. Clair, the most prominent
man of his day in Westmoreland county history. Those who are familiar with
tlie Whisky Insurrection cannot fail to remember the faith our people had in
him at that time, yet he lived more than a quarter of a century after that, and
his hold upon the people increased constantly from year to year.

He was born in Ireland in 1741 cr 1742, and came to Pennsylvania in 1762.
He did not locate in Westmoreland county until the close of the Revolution,
though it is said that he was ready to come here with Bouquet in 1763, but was
deterred from doing so by the Indian troubles in this section. He was de-
scended from old Scotch Covenanters. His ancestors had been driven from
Scotland because of their religious belief during the reign of James the Second.
He came to America, intending to locate in South Carolina, but changed his
mind because of the extent of human slavery in the south. It is scarcely likely
that he was opposed to slavery from principle, but rather that, intending to per-
form manual labor himself, he came to a state where free labor was highly re-
spected. Nevertheless, he could have owned slaves in Pennsylvania but never
did.

\Mien' a yctith at home he had access to more books than most young men
of his day, and he acquired a taste for literature which remained with him
throughout his entire life. When the Revolution began he entered the army
as a private, and rose to the rank of captain, which was not a high rank for a
man of his ability to attain. At the close of the war he purchased lands near
Latrobe, or between that place, St. Vincent's jMonastery and Beatty Station, on
the Pennsylvania Railroad. The latter now passes over his farm. It was then
practically uncleared land ; that which had been partly cleared had been neg-
lected during the war, and was little else than a tangled mass of underbrush.
To convert this into a productive form became his chief employment for some
years. Then he built a log cabin in which he lived, and in which he also set up
a loom, for he was a weaver by trade, and for some years plied the shuttle when
not engaged in actual farming, with an industry which characterized his whole
life. ]\Iany a web of cloth he wove for his surrounding neighbors, wove fabrics
of flax and wool, and the linsey-woolsey mixture with which both he and his
neighbors were clad from one year's end to another. When he afterwards
built a better house the loom still remained in the log cabin, and did duty long
after he was engaged in a wider field.

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 643

In religion he was by birth a Covenanter, but, settling in a strong Presby-
terian section, he connected himself with that church and remained with it
through life. In church affairs, as in everything else, he was a leader. He
was not as well educated as many of the prominent men of his day, but he had
the confidence of all classes, both high and low, and in this he surpassed all
men in our county. He was very early elected to the assembly of Pennsylvania
and there met Hugh Henry Brackenridge, who then represented that part of
our county, now embraced in Allegheny county. Brackenridge had been elected
for the sole purpose of securing the formation of a new county, while Findley,
as may be supposed, was anxious to have the county remain intact. They were
therefore hostile to each other from the first. Findley was also one of the
council of censors, and on the same board with him sat Gen. Arthur St. Clair.
They were perhaps never hostile to each other, but were always on opposite
sides, for St. Clair was a Federalist. Findley and William Todd were repre-
sentatives in the constitutional convention of 1789 from Westmoreland county,
the convention which formed the constitution of 1790. In this convention he
introduced a measure which he tried to have incorporated in the organic law of
the state, providing that in all parts of the state the children of poor parents
should be taught at the state's expense. The people were not ready for such a
measure. Nearly forty years afterwards, Thaddeus Stevens, by sheer force of
his mighty intellect, put a similar provision on the statute books, in direct
opposition to the expressed instruction of his constituents, and for this daring
act has since been revered by every right thinking man, woman and child in
Pennsylvania. Yet the level-headed old Westmoreland weaver more than a
generation before, and when Stevens was yet unborn, advocated the same
measure, and proved himself to be far in advance of his age.

In 1790 he was elected to the second Congress and took his seat in 1791. He
was elected for four consecutive terms, remaining there till 1799. He was
therefore in Congress during the Whisky Insurrection, and to this is due in
part the confidence our people reposed in him at that time, for the country
people always look up to and expect everything from their member of
Congress. In 1802 he was again elected after an absence of four years, and
kept there steadily as long as he would stand for the honor, for fourteen years.
Had it not been for his age he could probably have remained many years longer.

His enemies in Congress said he was a demagogue. This may have been
true, for it is noticed that he always came out in favor of the people and advo-
cated what they wanted, which was not always what they should have had. It
perhaps mattered little to him what they wanted ; if they were largely of one
mind, Findley favored it. A good public servant cannot alwavs be bound by
the will of those he represents, but, like Stevens, he must sometimes oppose
the wishes of his best friends, and advocate theories because they are just and
not because they are favored by the arbitrary caprice of his people. In the
Whisky Insurrection he went with his people and went wrong.

He was a fluent talker in conversation, but made few if any public addresses.

644 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

While he could not address a public meeting, he could organize one, shape its
actions to suit himself, and get from it, in the end, all that he desired. He was,
in other words, a natural born leader of the people, and his enemies may have
been right in saying that he feared to try to lead them in any direction except
the one in which they wanted to go. He electioneered among them and made
them think he was indeed one of them. He attended house and barn raisings,
and when in the strength of manhood, before age weakened him, he lifted as
many logs as the best of them. He visited the farmer in his fields, and, taking
the plow in his own hands, showed them how well he could turn a furrow. By
all these means, which his enemies styled demagogic, he enlisted the support of
the common people, who largely predominated in his day, and they remained
loyal to him as long as he lived. In all thesa matters he differed widely from
Brackenridge. Though both were great in their leadership, they led through
entirely different methods. Brackenridge was a scholar, an orator, a philoso-
pher, a lawyer, and a man of the highest culture. On one occasion he was called
to account for opposing Findley because he had been a weaver, to which he
wittily replied that he did not oppose him because he was a weaver, but because
he was nothing else than a weaver. Findley was, however, much more than a
weaver. He was perhaps stronger out of Congress than in it. The Scotch-
Irish were always loyal to him to a man. Party lines were not so closely drawn
then as now. Men voted for Findley because he was Findley whom they knew,
and not because he was the representative of any party.

There were many great statesmen of that day who feared that the then un-
tried constitution of the United States was not strong enough ; that the people
were granted too many liberties, and that, in a short time, we would have a
reign of anarchy. We were so closely connected with the monarchies of the old
world that they had but little faith in our people governing themselves. Find-
ley was opposed to many of the prominent measures of Washington's first ad-
ministration, as was common among the anti-Federalists of that day ; yet he
wrote a book to defend the constituticii, and in it showed considerable research
and ability. His book is now out of print. In it he took the ground that church
and state were and should be always separate institutions. Bred, as he and
most of our people were, under the dominion of the English government, when
the established church was one of its main features, this was indeed advanced
ground, though now it is a proposition which needs no argument. His work
was widely read in its day, and may have done great good. He also wrote a
"History of the Insurrection," which has been quoted as authority by such men
as Hildreth. Fisher Ames called the book "a history of Findley's own insur-
rection, not the Whisky Insurrection." It is not a great work, and seems to be
written by him rather to apologize for his own actions in the unfortunate trouble
than to give a true account of it. There are errors in it which have never been
attributed to a willful desire to misstate facts, but rather to the misinformation-
of the author. It has been the most lasting and is probably the best of his works,
mainly because it dealt with a national subject. Brackenridge, no less than

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 645

Findley. scmght to apologize for his part in the Insurrection. But Bracken-
ridge was an educated lawyer whose every instinct should have warned him
against participating with those whose object was to subvert the majesty of the
law.

The Farmers' Register, now the Greensburg Democrat, was the only paper
published in Westmoreland county during most, if not all, of Findley's life in
Congress. To its columns he was a frequent contributor under the nom de
plume of "Sidney." This he admits in an article published on November 8,
1808. To contribute to newspapers was a common means in those days, to
which public men resorted to reach the people. As a newspaper writer he was
direct and forceful, and his articles were doubtless very potent with the un-
lettered constituency whom he represented.

He also published a work called "Observations." and still another, called a
^'Review of the Funding System," taking sides with Jefferson and Gallatin as
against Washington and Hamilton. Neither of these works would attract at-
tention now, but they had no mean circulation.

When Jay's Treaty was brought up before the house he perhaps did not
want to vote either way, so he left the house. The sergeant-at-arms was sent
for him and brought him in and he was compelled to vote. This was great
material for his enemies, who did net fail to use it against him.

He must have been a very hard worker all his life, for his books and con-
tributions to newspapers alone are almost a life's work. He never missed a
session of Congress. He never forget that he had been a farmer.

W'illiam Findley was a large man, with light complexion, clean shaven
face, and was very tasty in his dress. He always, when away from home, wore
Icnee-breeches, a shad-bellied coat, and long waistcoat. These, with silk stock-
ings and a cue, completed his make-up. These were changed to home-spun gar-
ments and white felt hat when abeiit his home and busied with the many duties
■of his farm.

Going to Philadelphia, and after 1800 to Washington to attend Congress,
he always went on horseback, for which purpose he kept a special horse, and for
several weeks before he started his horse was allowed to a season of rest.
Weeks before^ the journey began, the Findley household was busy preparing
his clothes, the linens, and little personal possessions he was to take with him.
He went away in time for the first session in December, and did not return till
its close, sometimes in July or August. So his departure was a matter of
«ome import to his community. All the neighbors came to his house on the
day of his departure to wish him well and to bid him good-bve. There were
■George Smith, William Todd and John Prrctor, all men of note in our coun-
ty's history ; the Sloans, the Craigs and the Lochrys, names not by any means
imfamiliar to the reader.

His connection with the ^^'hiskv Insurrection has always been considered
against him. It cannot but be admitted that he did wrong in its inception, and
probably the example of so eminent and just a man led many weaker men
astray. But, at all events, he did no worse than Gallatin and Brackenridge. Of

646 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

all these he came first to a true realization of the situation, and after that did
all he could to rectify the errors he had committed. The frankness with which
he admitted his error, and his untiring efiforts to repair the wrong done, have
more than half redeemed him from his faults. But more than all this is the
fact that he retained through all the trcaibles, the highest respect and confidence
of Washington, who never knowingly countenanced nor confided in a real
enemy of the Republic.

He died at his home, on April 5, 1821, in the eightieth year of his age, and
was buried in Unity cemetery, near his home, and near the present town of
Latrobe.

ALEXANDER JOHNSTON. Among the makers of Westmoreland
county of the last century was Alexander Johnston, who lived and died at
Kingston House, on the Loyalhanna, about three miles from Latrobe. He was
born July 10, 1773, in county Tyrone, Ireland, and died July 16, 1872. having
lived ninetv-nine vears and six days.

ALEX.-VNUER JOHNSTON.

An incident concernin.g his leaving Ireland is well worthy of mention.
Col. John McFarland, of Ligonier, frequently related that in 1844 he and Alex-
ander Johnston had driven to Harrisburg together in a buggy, and on the way
the latter told him that when he was a very young man he lived in the south of
Ireland and had fallen in love and become the accepted suitor of a young
woinan of the neighborhood. Upon going to the father of the girl to ask his
consent and tc contract for the marriage, the old gentleman became very much
enra,ged, and told him that he was too wild and unpromising to marry his
daughter. Harsher words from each followed, whereupon Johnston struck his
desired father-in-law and knocked him down. This he said, caused such an

HISTORY OF IVESTMORELAND COUNTY. 647

uproar in the community, the old gentleman being of a very prominent family,
that warrants were taken out for his arrest, and he was compelled to leave
the country or suffer the consequences, which might have been very serious.
So with the assistance of friends he secured a passage and sailed at once for
America. He arrived in 1797 and remained for a short time in Philadelphia,
after which he journeyed to Carlisle, where his relative, Gen. William Irvine,
who as the reader has seen, was quite familiar with western Pennsylvania, ad-
vised him to settle in this part of the state. The ycung man accordingly crossed
the Allegheny mountains and located first in Butler county. Becoming dissat-
isfied there, he removed to Westmoreland, where he met William Freame, an-
other Irishman, whose daughter Elizabeth he afterwards married. William
Freame had come to America with the renowned army of General 'James Wolfe
to engage in the French and Indian war. At its close, with many other British
soldiers, he remained in the colonies. When the Revolutionary war was de-
clared he attached himself to the British army. After a short service he set-
tled in Lancaster county, where he was married to Elizabeth Johnston, who
had come from Ireland with her father in 1792. This branch of the Johnston
family is in no way related to the Westmoreland branch, the former having
settled mostly in Kentucky and North Carolina.

Alexander Johnston and Elizabeth Freame had a family of eight sons and
two daughters, and these, with their father, became one of the most noted fam-
ilies in Westmoreland county. Two of the oldest sons were educated at West
Point, and served many years in the regular army as commissioned officers. Of
the youngest son, Richard, we have spoken, he being a private in the Mexican
war, killed at the storming of Alolino del Rey. Another son, Edward
Johnston, read law and became noted in his profession in Iowa. Still another
son, William F. Johnston, became governor of Pennsylvania, and we shall
speak of him again. Another, Col. John W. Johnston, was captain of the West-
moreland company in the JMexican war, and afterwards was colonel of a regi-
ment in the Civil war. The physical stature of these sons was remarkable.
None of them was less than six feet, one or two were six feet six inches in
height, and all were built in proportion. Their father, Alexander Johnston,
was for many years a resident of Greensburg, he having served several terms
in county offices of Westmoreland county. Later he purchased a large tract of
land at the base of the Chestnut Ridge, in Unity, Derry and Ligonier townships.
Upon this he erected a forge, rolling mill, etc., and became one of the early iron-
masters of western Pennsylvania. These works were called the Kingston
Works, this being the name of the tract of land upon which they were located.
Nearby he built the stone house called Kingston House, which is yet well
preserved, and is one of the landmarks of the past. It was built in 1815, as a
tablet on its front wall indicates. His adventure in the production of iron
was not successful, perhaps from the inferiority of the ore. Kingston iron
never sold at a high price, and the business, instead of making him a fortune,
involved him in pecuniary trouble. His house, Kingston House, near the pike,

648 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

afterwards constructed, was converted into a public inn. After some years he
removed to Greensburg, and was appointed register and recorder by Governor
Wolf, for he had in the meantime taken an active part in the early politics
of the county. He was a FederaHst, and remained with that party until its
final dissolution. He became a Jackson Democrat in 1824, and voted with that
party as against the Anti-Mason and National Republican parties. He held
several offices by election, namely sheriff, justice of the peace, and treasurer,
and was, as we have seen, register and recorder by appointment. The dates of
his commissions were as follows: Sheriff, November 4, 1807; justice of the
peace, October 24, 1822; treasurer, December 27, 1826; register and recorder,
January 21, 1830. In the latter position he served six years,' and then re-
turned to his home, Kingston House, a most beautiful place in an early day,
and remained there until his death. At the time of his death he was said to be
the oldest living Freemason in the United States, having joined the fraternity
in Ireland, and having participated first in a Masonic demonstration as early
as 1795. By special authority he organized the grand lodge of Pennsylvania
and the Masonic lodge in Greensburg, and was also authorized to organize the
lodge in Somerset. He was a leader among men naturally, and always enjoyed
the highest confidence of his neighbors. One of his most remarkable traits
was his polished manners. It mattered not whether he met the rich or the
poor, the high or the low, he greeted them in a most polished and dignified
w^ay ; nor did he relax his courteous manners with advancing years, though in
one sense of the word he never grew old. He took great pleasure in conversing
with the young people around him, which is always an evidence of a young
and vigorous mind. His memory was stored with interesting anecdotes and
historical reminiscenceSj and nothing seemed to delight him more than to
gather around him a company of young men and women and entertain them
with his recollections of the past. He had been all his life a reader of books
and a close observer of the events through which he passed, and moreover had
a retentive memory. These qualities united in making him one of the most
interesting and entertaining men of his day. He remembered the ringing of
the bells in Ireland and the cry of the watchman at night when the news
reached them that Cornwallis in America had been compelled to surrender his
sword to Washington at Yorktown. The Irish, he said, seemed to take great
pleasure in the downfall of the English armies in the new world. The latter
years of his life were all that any one could wish for. He had full possession
of his mental powers, and even the physical decline, which always comes with
advancing years, came slowly to him, and only when he was ncaring his hun-
dredth year.

^^■ILLIA:\I FREAME JOHNSTON, son of Alexander and Elizabeth
Freame Johnston, was born in Greensburg, while his father was sheriflF of the
comity, on November 29, 1808. In his youth he perhaps shewed a more vig-
orous intellect than his brothers, all of whom were noted for their precocity.
In this way and by industry he acquired a vast fund of information which

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 649

served him well instead of a colleg;e training. He read law with :\Iaj. John B.
Alexander, the noted lawyer of Greensbnrg of that day, and was admitted to
the Westmoreland bar in May, 1829, when he had just attained his majority.
He did not practice law rcsjularly in Greensburg, but all his life was frequently
called here in the trial of cases and in the conduct of the legal business of the
dav. He began practicing law in Kittanning, Armstrong county, and very
shortlv after he went there was appointed district attorney of the county by
Attorney General Samuel Douglass, and afterwards by Attorney General
Lewis. After attaining a considerable degree of standing as a lawyer in Arm-
strong county he was elected to the lower house of the legislature, and in 1847
was elected a member of the state senate, representing Armstrong, Indiana,
Cambria and Clearfield counties. It will be remembered that during the pres-
idency of Martin Van Buren came the financial panic of 1837. Mr. Johnston
came forward with a proposition that the state should issue what was called
'"relief notes" for the payment or refunding of such bills as the state was obliged
to pay. This preposition he advocated with great ability, and though a large
majority of the legislature was politically hostile to him, he forced his measure
to adoption and it gave almost instant relief. It was, of course, designed
only as a temporary expedient and as such was entirely successful. To plan
ajid put through the legislature a scheme of this kind gave him a reputation as
a financier throughout the commonwealth, and accordingly in 1847 he was
elected president of the senate of Pennsylvania. Under our old constitution we
did not have a lieutenant-governor, but the president of the senate became
governor upon the death or resignation of that officer. Francis R. Shunk was
then governor of Pennsylvania, and was performing his duties under greatly
impaired health. So weak was he, indeed, from an incurable disease, that he
resigned the governorship, and Mr. Johnston, president of the senate, at once
assumed the duties of the office. The question then arose as to whether he
should hold the office the remainder of the term, or only until his. successor
should be elected. Governor Shunk had resigned his office on the last day
possible according to the constitution, to allow a new man to be elected at the
ensuing fall election. Many eminent lawyers held the belief that Johnston
had a right under the constitution to hold the office for the remainder of the
teruT for which Shunk had been elected, but net wishing to hold this office a
day longer than he was legally entitled to, he ordered an immediate election of
his successor. He was a candidate himself for the office, was nominated by his
jjarty, and elected for the full term of three years.

In his message of 1851 he recommended that the old manuscript records
of the state of Pennsylvania, which up until that time had never been in print,
should be published in book form in order that they might be. preserved to fu-
ture generations. His message asked that a billl might be passed providing
that these manuscripts should be edited and published at the state's expense.
An act was passed in compliance with this recommendation, and Samuel Haz-
ard was accordingly appointed to supervise thetir publication. Twenty-eight
volumes of the "Colonial Records" and the "Pennsylvania Archives" were pub-

6so HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

lished as the result of this act. The wisdom of Gov. Johnston has been shown
in the fact that scarcely a historical document relative to Pennsylvania has been
since written that does not refer to them, and moreover it will be remembered
that their publication perhaps saved them from destruction in the burning of
the capitol February 2, 1897. Governor Johnston also deserves credit for the
manner in which he managed the financial aiifairs of the state during his term
as governor. When he was elected the state debt was over $40,000,000 and had
been increasing in indebtedness at the rate of about $2,000,000 a year for nine
years preceding his election. The interest on the whole sum was paid during
his term of office, and a part of the principal debt was wiped out. At the close
of his term he was renominated by his party ,but was defeated in the fall elec-
tion by a small majority. After retiring from this office he engaged in the
practice of law, and in the manufacture of iron, producing salt, and in the pro-
duction of oil, and still later in refining petroleum. He was also president of
the Allegheny Railroad, which was built from Pittsburgh to Kittanning. In the
Civil war he took an active part in home defence at Pittsburgh, being chairman
of the executive committee of public safety. Still later he was appointed collec-
tor of the port of Philadelphia by President Andrew Johnston, and filled the
duties of the office for some months, but his appointment was not confirmed
by the senate upon the meeting of that body.

JOSEPH ]MARIvLE, generally known as General Alarkle, was born near
West Newton, February 15, 1777. His father was an extensive business man,
and the son began in his young days to manage a pack-horse train transporting
salt and other necessaries from the east across the mountains. Early in the
last century he was entrusted with flatboats which conveyed flour down the
rivers to New Orleans. Several times he returned on foot, and from Natchez
to Nashville the Indian trail through the lands of the Chickasaws, a distance of
over six hundred miles, was tak-en. On these trips he camped out at night and
traveled for days without seeing a sign of a human habitation. The incidents
related by him of the journeys, his narrow escapes in fording large streams
and from attacks by the Indians, if preserved, would make a most interesting
and valuable addition to our pioneer literature.

In iSii he abandoned the river trade, and in partnership with Simon Drum,
of Greensburg, erected a paper mill near West Newton. It was the third mill
of that kind west of the Alleghenies. This business was scarcely started till
the War of 1812 came. He raised a company of cavalry, as we have seen, and
at once entered the service. When they reached Pittsburgh the provisions
which were promised them were not at hand. In this exigency Captain Mar-
kle, like General St. Clair, raised the necessary money by giving his own note
for $1,250. The note was endorsed by Joshua Budd, William Fullerton and
John Daily. It was payable in six months and was discounted by the old
Bank of Pittsburg. Quartermaster Wheaton also raised $800 and these
sums enabled the troops to move on to the front. Their services in the war
have been briefly detailed. From an order made at the close of their enlistment.

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 651

August 16, 1813, there can be little doubt of the gallantn- of the captain and his
troops. It is as follows :

"The period for which the troops of the Light Dragoons, commanded by
Captain ^larkle, was engaged, being about to expire, the commanding general
directs that they proceed to Franklintown for their baggage, and that they be
there discharged, or proceed embodied to Pittsburgh before they are discharged,
as Capt. Markle may think proper. Gen. Harrison returns Capt. ]\Iarkle, his
subalterns, non-commissioned officers and soldiers, his thanks for their good
conduct whilst under his command. In the course of eleven months^ service,
in which they have performed as much severe duty as any troops ever did, the
General has found as much reason to applaud their steady and subordinaie de-
portment in camp as their coolness and valor when opposed to the enemy, both
of which were eminently displayed at the battle of IMississinewa and at the siege
of Fort Meigs.

A. H. H0L:>IES, Adjt. General."

"A true extract."'

A short time after their return from the army. Capt. ]\Iarkle was elected a
major-general of the Pennsylvania Militia for the division composed of West-
moreland and Fayette counties.

He also at once began to build up his business, which consisted in flour and
paper making, and in farming and store keeping. These had all greatly suf-
fered during his absence. The paper business, under his supervision, grew
rapidly, so that they soon supplied the greater part of Western Pennsylvania
and were able to ship large quantities to Ohio and Kentucky. He retired from
active business in 1829 and turned it over largely to his sons.

In politics he at first supported Thomas Jefiferson and his political tenets.
He also voted for Madison, Monroe and John O. Adams. In 1828 he voted
for Andrew Jackson, but did not support him in 1832, because, in the mean-
time, their ideas on the tariff question became widely divergent. In 1836 and
again in 1840 he supported William Henry Harrison for the presidency. In
all these years he was an admirer of Henry Clay, and supported him and every
other Whig and Republican candidate for the presidency up to the time of his
death. In 1844 he was nominated by the Whig party for the governorship of
Pennsylvania. In order to understand that campaign it will be necessary to
take a brief retrospective view of the political contests of Pennsylvania. In
1835 Governor George Wolf was nominated for the third term of the governor-
ship. This displeased a strong element in the party, which met and nominated
Henry A. Muhlenberg as their candidate.. The Whig and Anti-Masonic party
followed by nominating Joseph Ritner as their candidate. With two candidates
in the Democratic party, Ritner was elected. The regular Democratic party
blamed their defeat on Muhlenberg, and he was very unpopular among them.
Nine years later, in some way he secured the nomination for the governorshcp,
but his independent candidacy was not forgotten. ]\Iany Democrats in all

-652

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

parts of the state refused to touch him. The Clay and Markle Whigs were cor-
respongingly jubilant, for, with the ^^luhlenberg defection, they had every pros-
pect of a victory. But shortly before the election IMuhlenberg died, and the
Democrats at once united and nominated Francis R. Shunk for governor. He
was one of the most popular Democrats in the state, and the cry of "Polk, Dallas
and Shunk" was heard from every Democrat in Pennsylvania. His popularity
united the party, and this carried the state against Clay and Markle, defeating
the latter for the governorship and the former for the presidency. Markle,
however, lacked only about 4,000 votes of an election, while Clay was 8,000
short. The effect of Markle's defeat in October probably accounted for Clay's
reduced vote in November. Prior to this Markle had been a candidate for
Assembly, and in 1838 was a candidate for Congress, but in each instance was
a candidate against his wishes. When the Civil war came he was a strong
supporter of the Northern cause. When our state was threatened with an in-
vasion he raised a company for home defense, and was elected its captain,
though he was then over eighty-six years old. All through his life he had been
a great reader and had, moreover, a remarkable memory. In mature years,
therefore, he had a great fund of information, and was a friend and companion
of the most eminent men of his day. His leading characteristics were his cour-
age, his honesty and his benevolence. Particularly did he display this last
quality in visiting his poor neighbors when afflicted, and in supplying them with
every necessary comfort.

WILLIAM LARIIMER, Jr., was born at Circleville, Westmoreland
county, Pennsylvania, October 24, 1809, and died near Leavenworth City, Kan-
sas, May 16, 1875.

The original family name was French, Lorimier, derived from the Latin
Lorum, a thong. The English form, Lorimer, may be found in many of the
English dictionaries. It indicates the name of an ancient trade ; not the trade
of working in leather, as the word "thong" might suggest, but the "Lorimer"
was a maker of bits, spurs, stirrup irons, and all kinds of metal mountings of
brass and iron, including armour. The name suggests this last, as it is some-
times recorded as being derived from the French, "I'armov." The first record
of the name as yet found by us is in 1080, when a certain Durand Lorimer went
from Caen, France, to Scotland, doubtless with the forces of William the Con-
queror. In Scotland, Lorimer is quite a common name at the present time.

The first record found of the Larimers in this country relates to Robert Lar-
imer, the lineal ancestor of William Larimer, Jr., with whom our sketch deals.
This Robert Larimer was born about 1690 and came to this country from Scot-
land, where his ancestors had located when driven from Alsace-Lorraine by the
revocation of the Edict of Nantes. He settled in Berwick township, York
county, Pennsylvania, early in 1700, and died in York county in 1772. During
his residence in America he had accumulated considerable property, as there
are records of taxes paid on a farm of two hundred acres in Berwick township,
and of a farm in JNIcunt Joy township.

\

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 655

The children of Robert and Sarah Larimer were Thomas, John, W'ilham,.
]\Iarv, Margaret, Jean, and Robert. Thomas, the eldest son, was born about
1745. To this son was deeded the farm in Mount Joy township, and there he

established his home. He married Catherine , of Berwick

township. During the Revolutionary war, Thomas Larimer served in a Ger-
man regiment commanded by Colonel Weltner. He died at his homestead
in Mount Joy township, Adams county, in September, 1816. His lands and
bonds he bequeathed to his children. The homestead still stands near the town
of Gettysburg. The children of Thomas and Catherine Larimer were : Will-
iam, Sr., Thomas, Margiaret, Mary, Sidney, Nancy, and Elizabeth.

William Larimer, Sr., eldest son of Thomas Larimer, was born in 1771.
About twenty years of his life was spent in Adams county, but about 1790 he
had removed to Westmoreland county. He was twice married. His first wife,
]\Iartha McNease, of Westmoreland county, died young, leaving two children,
John and Catherine. The second wife was Anne Sheakley, of Adams county.
The children of William and Anne Larimer were Margaret, George, William,
Jr., Martha, Washington, Hamilton, James, Anne, Thomas, and Mary.

William Larimer, Sr., was an energetic man, possessed of good business
qualifications. When he died, September 18, 1838, he left his affairs in a
flourishing- condition and his children were unusually well provided for. Anne,
the wife of William Larimer, Sr., was a woman well fitted both by character
and inheritance to be a helpmeet to her husband in their pioneer life in West-
moreland county. Her grandfather, William Sheakley, was a man of ability
and wealth. When it became evident in 1775 that the colonies would take up
arms against England, he was elected one of the committee of observation for
York county. Anne's father, George Sheakley, was commissioned ensign un-
der Captain John Mcllvain, at the age of nineteen, during the Revolutionary
war.

The home of William and Anne Larimer was known as the "Mansion
Farm," now the site of Circleville, North Huntingdon township. The home-
stead has been remodeled, but the large oak logs of the original house are still
there, and are mor.e like iron than oak, their dark brown coloring similar to the
antique oak of today. There, on the "King's Highway," (the old turnpike) be-
tween the far East and the Ohio river, William and Anne Larimer lived for
about fifty years, and there entertained many of the prominent men of the time
who journeyed to the West or the South, among whom were William Henry
Harrison and Aaron Burr. Anne had seen General Washington also as he
passed her childhood home in York county in his carriage. Washington was
President of the United States at that time (1794). An interesting incident is
related in regard to a business transaction between Mr. W. H. Harrison and
William Larimer. The latter sold a negro girl to Mr. Harrison, neither of
them knowing at the time that a law had been passed making the buying or
selling of slaves in Pennsylvania illegal. As soon as Mr. Larimer was cognizant
of the error he at once returned the money to Mr. Harrison, and the girl was,
returned.

'54

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

\\'illiam Larinu-r, Jr., third child of William, Sr., and Anne Larimer, was
born in the old X.arimer homestead, now Circleville, Westmoreland county,
Pennsylvania, October 24, 1809. His wife was Rachel IMcMasters, daughter
of John and Rachel Hughey :\IcMasters, (who were also wealthy pioneers)
whom he married at her home at Turtle Creek, Alleghany county, October 16,
1834. The children of William and Rachel Larimer were John, William, Ed-
win, Thomas, Cassius, Joseph, George, Annie, and Rachel. The two daugh-
ters, Annie and Rachel, settled in Pittsburg. Annie married T. M. Jones, of
the firm of Jones and Laughlin, in 1858. Rachel married James Ross Mellon,
son of Judge Thomas and Sarah Negley Mellon, of Pittsburg, in 1867.

\\'illiam Larimer. Jr., was one of the prominent business men of his day.
Larimer township, in Somerset county; Larimer station, on the Pennsylvania
railroad ; Larimer avenue, in Pittsburg ; Larimer county, in Colorado ; Lari-
mer street, in Denver ; and Fort Larimer, in Arkansas, were all named in his
honor.

At Larimer Station he and Hon. John Covode organized the Westmoreland
Coal Company, which is still one of the largest in the state. But his first exten-
sive business enterprise was with his friend and neighbor, John Irwin, of Irwin,
Pennsylvania, in the "Conestoga Wagon System." By means of wagons they
carried goods between Pittsburg and Philadelphia as early as 1830, many
years before the railroad was projected. His next business venture was in
partnership with his brother-in-law, John McMasters, Jr., in merchandising.
It was a time of new enterprises, and in many of them William Larimer was
interested. For over twenty-five years he was very successful, and held many
important positions. He was the first president of the Pittsburg and Con-
nellsville railroad ; treasurer of the Ohio and Pennsylvania (now Pittsburg,
Ft. Wayne, and Chicago) railroad; chief proprietor and creditor of the Yough-
iogheny Slack Water System; chief projector and builder of the Remington
Coal railroad at McKees Rocks; and a large share-holder in numerous Cali-
fornia gold mining enterprises, and Overland Transportation Companies. He
was uniformly successful in all his enterprises and acquired considerable
wealth, indeed a large fortune for those times. His public spirit, enterprise,
and generosity made him hosts of friends to whom the hospitality of his homes,
one in Penn avenue, Pittsburg, and the other in Larimer avenue. East End,
was ever free.

- Politically, Mr. Larimer identified himself with the anti-slavery movement,
and assisted in the organization of the old Liberal party, supporting Birney for
president in 1844. From this time up to the defeat of General Scott in 1852
he was in sympathy with the principles of the Whig party, and took quite a
prominent part in the politics of Pennsylvania. He was made major-general of
state militia in 1852, and was mentioned as a possible candidate for governor.
Religiously he was an ^'old school" Presbyterian. He was also an enthusiastic
temperance worker, and gave substantial aid to the cause.

.\fter financial difficulties which reached a climax during the general busi-

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 655

ness depression in 1854-55, General Larimer decided tO- start anew in the West,
and left Pittsburgh for Nebraska the next year. Soon after his arrival he was
elected to the legislature of that territory. He took an active part in behalf of
Republican principles, and the meeting at which the Republican party of
Nebraska was organized was held at his home in Omaha. He moved to Kan-
sas in 1858, but remained there only a few months. During the Pike's Peak
gold excitement of that year he went to Colorado. He was one of the founders
of the city of Denver, and he built the first house on the site of the present city,
on the land which he and his son William H. H. Larimer had pre-empted for
their own private possession. While a resident of Colorado, General Larimer
served for a time as United States commissioner and judge of probate for the
First Judicial District of the territory. He became well known throughout
the West, being prominently identified with the public interests of Nebraska,
Kansas and Colorado for more than twenty years.

At the outbreak of the Civil war. General Larimer raised the Third Regi-
ment of Colorado \'olunteers, and was its first colcnel. After a short term of
service he resigned and returned to Kansas, but soon entered the service again
as captain of General Blunt's bodyguard. After the massacre of Baxter
Springs he was commissioned captain of Company A, 14th Kansas Cavalry,
by Governor Thomas Carney.

After the war General Larimer was a member of the Kansas state senate,
1867-70. At that time it was said of him, "He is earnest in his convictions;
conscientious in the discharge of his duties, and zealously labors for the good
of the people he represents." At this time he was frequently spoken of by the
press of the state in connection with the gubernatorial chair and United States
senatorship. While General Larimer was living in Pittsburg he was person-
ally acquainted with prominent bankers, journalists, and statesmen of New
York, Philadelphia, and western Pennsylvania, and many of them were enter-
tained at his home in Penn avenue. The great editor and philosopher, Horace
Greeley, was a frequent guest. Mr. Greeley looked more like a farmer than a
noted man of letters. One morning when Mr. Greeley and !\Ir. Larimer were
walking down Penn avenue, a neighbor, seeing them, stepped back into his
house, 'To spare ^Ir. Larimer the embarrassment of introducing his country
cousin." thus missing an introduction to the great journalist. In later years
Mr. Greeley visited General Larimer in his cabin in the early pioneer days of
Denver City. After years cf friendship and correspondence, it was natural
that General Larimer should take a prominent part in the Greeley campaign in
1872. and should be the first man to suggest the name of Mr. Greeley in con-
nection with the presidency. After Mr. Greeley's death, in response to his
(laughter's request, his letters to General Larimer were sent to her. When
the letters were returned. Mrs. Smith sent her father's favorite pen to his life-
long friend. Another friend of General Larimer's was Governor Samuel
Houston, the liberator and first governor of Texas. He expressed his appre-
ciation of the General in gifts of value ; at one time presenting Mrs. Larimer

656

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

with a beautiful brocade gown, and on another occasion with two miniatures of
himself in solid gold frames.

Net only was General Larimer loved by his friends, but he had a personal
magnetism that held an audience's attention when he was called upon for a
public speech. He was a man of fine appearance, with a martial bearing due
to his lifelong military training. His height was about six feet, his hair a
soft brown, his eyes hazel. He could speak in public without notes or the
slightest preparation. He had command of a great fund of general knowledge,
and never seemed at a loss for words with which to express himself. The
way in which he was received by an audience is shown in the following quo-
tation from the Rocky Mountain Ncivs of September ii, 1862. At the time
he delivered the speech menticaied, (two paragraphs of which only are given),
he was recruiting officer for the Third Regiment of Colorado Volunteers :

"The war meeting held here Saturday night last was the largest and most
enthusiastic ever held in the territory. The meeting was scarcely organized
before General Larimer was called for by the immense crowd in attendance.
He came forward and was received with hearty cheers and most kindly feel-
ings. Lights were called fcT in order that they might see his face. When
these were brought, the applause was renewed. The General spoke as fol-
lows :

" "jNIr. Chairman and fellow citizens : I am an old pioneer. I came to this
country in the fall of 1858. I am one of the first settlers of our Rocky Moun-
tain Territory. I wrote one of the first letters ever written from this country,
certainly the first ever written from Denver City. I had dated my letter the
night before, "Golden City," but after writing it, we met and changed the name
to Denver, after our Governor, an honor to his country and to his name. WelL
Denver is there still, and I believe will be for ages to come. * * * * *
" 'Abraham Lincoln has been trying to preserve the Constitution and tlie
L'nion. sustaining every state in all its rights, whether real or fancied, and to
leave slavery untouched wherever it existed, believing that the National gov-
ernment was net responsible for it. He has been moving slowly, and has done
everything that could be done to conciliate and assure the south that their in-
stitution should be untouched. In this course I have been disposed to stand by '
the President. Now I begin to think that I can see the hand of God in this
matter. Had this war been ended a year ago, slavery would have remained
untouched; the millions who have so long been bowed down by tyranny and
oppression would never have scented the air of freedom and universal liberty as
it passed on every breeze over the plantations of the south from every far-off
blood-stained battlefield ; but now they have breathed its breath, heard its
words, drunk in its spirit, and 'as the lightning cometh out of the east and shin-
eth into the west,' so has the light of universal freedom fiashed tongue to
tongue and mind to mind over all the land.' "

William Larimer, Jr., spent the last years of his life on his farm near Leav-
enworth, Kansas, where he died on Sunday morning, :May 16, 1875. Of him

.^^^^.^i^ /^^^

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 657

it may be truthfully said, he was a man of abihty ; genial and companionable ;
broad-minded ; always ready to give the best he had ; true to his Huguenot
descent and principles. He served his country as an officer of the National
Guard of Pennsylvania and of Nebraska, and in the Civil war. The follow-
ing are his seven commissions: i. Second Lieutenant, Eighth Infantry, August

3, 1828, by John Andrew Shulze, Governor of Pennsylvania. 2. I\Iajor First
liattalion of Sixth Regiment Allegheny County Volunteers, April 15, 1845,
by Francis R. Shunk, Governor of Pennsylvania. 3. Brigadier General, June

4, 1848, Pennsylvania Troops, by William F. Johnston, Governor of Penn-
sylvania. 4. Major General, December 22, 1852, by Willliam Bigler, Governor
of Pennsylvania. 5. Captain La Platte Guards, October 17, 1855, by Mark N.
Izard, Governor of Nebraska. 6. By Hon. James H. Lane, August 7, 1862, to
raise Third Regiment Colorado Volunteers. 7. By Governcr Thomas Carney,
August 7, 1863, Captain Company A, Fourteenth Kansas Volunteer Cavalry.

GENERAL JAMES KEENAN was born in Youngstown, Pennsylvania,
November 16, 1823. He was the son of Joseph and Isabella (Johnstcai) Kee-
nan. His father died before his son had reached manhood, and the care of his
widowed mother and her younger children devolved largely on him. His youth
was filled with hardship and privaticais, all of which he met manfully. Doubt-
less the adversities of his young days fitted him to perform the stern duties
which confronted him in after years.

He entered Mt. St. Mary's College at Emmittsburg, Maryland, but his
course was cut short by the breaking out of the Mexican war, in which he en-
listed as a private with the Duquesne Grays of Pittsburg. In this company
was also Richard C. Drum, later adjutant general, U. S. A. Going to Mexico
in 1846, Keenan returned in 1847 afflicted with a disease incident to the hot
climate. On his partial recovery he was appointed a lieutenant in the Eleventh
Infantry, U. S. A., and began to recruit for the service. In 1848, with Iiis
recruits, he returned to ]\Ie.xico and remained in the service till the war ended
and his commission expired. He had been a gallant and daring soldier in the
war, and found himself a hero indeed when he returned home. In the fall of
1849 he was elected register and recorder of Westmoreland county, and was
again elected in 1852, each time for a term of three years. He proved to be a
methodical officer, and introduced many improvements in the office which were
highly appreciated by its patrons.

An ardent Democrat, his effectual work for the party came to the notice
of Governor Bigler, who on February 2, 1852, appointed him adjutant-general
of Pennsylvania. In June of the same year, President Pierce oiTered him the
appointment of consul to Hong Kong, China, which he held under advisement
till October, 1853, when he resigned his office here and sailed for China. Pres-
ident Buchanan continued him in the Hong Kong consulate. In 1857 he re-
turned to Greensburg and was united in marriage with Elizabeth Barclay, a
daughter of John Barcla}-, and a \oung woman of highly cultivated taste and

658 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY

refinement. They sailed at once for Hong Kong. The duties of his position
were burdensome, and the chmate of China undermined his constitution. He
filled the duties of the office, however, under President Lincoln till February
22, 1862, when he and his family sailed in the ship "Surprise" for the United
States, arriving; in New York on May i6th. For many weeks he was con-
fined to his berth on board the ship, and was with difficulty removed to a hotel
in New York. He died at Blanchard's Hctel, May 22, 1863, in the thirty-
ninth year of his age. His body was brought to Greensburg and buried in the
old St. Clair cemetery, with one of the most largely attended funerals ever
known there.

General Keenan was a man of unusual promise. He was fully six feet
high and built in proportion, with dark eyes and black hair. Nature had en-
dowed him with a fine intellect and this, with his noted physical strength, en-
abled him to push forward and surmount obstacles which would have over-
come other men of less native power. No young man in Pennsylvania had a
more brilliant future before him than he. From his youth his career had been
steadily onward and upward. He was generous, intrepid and courageous, yet
gentle, kind and humane. He was noted for his courteous and graceful man-
ners, not manners of the assumed kind, but those which resulted from a nat-
urally generous and happy disposition. He had an unusually accurate knowl-
edge of human character, and was seldom deceived in his estimates of men.
In the danger of battle he was never excited, surprised or disconcerted, but
only aroused to cool and intrepid action. He is said to have possessed many
of the qualities of a great commander, and had he gone through the Civil
war as was his desire, he would doubtless have distinguished himself as a leader
of men in battle. Without the aid of fortune, or even of friends except those
he won by the excellence of his character, he had come up step by step with-
cait a single setback or defeat. The position which he filled in China became
one of great importance in the Sepoy Mutiny and in other troubles in the .east.
He was with the United States marines when the English took Canton and the
adjoining country. Later he accompanied Admiral Perry on his memorable
expedition to open the Japanese ports to American commerce.

He was the personal friend of General Lewis Cass, Simon Cameron, Gov-
ernor Bigler, General Henry D. Foster and other well known Democratic lead-
ers of that day.

Though he read law in Greensburg he never practiced or became known
as a lawyer, but his correspondence with the State Department in Washing-
ton during the Sepoy and other kindred troubles in the East, gave him high
rank as an authority on international law. Like his military career, his life as
a dii)lomat was cut short, and we cannot know what he might have accom-
plished ha<l he lived to maturer years and riper wisdom. He died at an age
wlun nicist men are content if they have but won a fair start in public life. '

JOHN WHITE GEARY was born in Westmoreland cciinty, December
30, i8iy. His parents were Scotch-Irish, but several generations of the fam-

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 659

ily had been in this covmtry before his birth. His father, Richard Geary, was
a native of I'rankhn county. He liad been well educated and was a man of
considerable force of character. His mother, Margaret White, who was born
in Washington county, Maryland, was a woman of superior taste and amiable
disposition. Richard Geary was engaged in the manufacture of iron, and for
a time was a resident of Laughlintown, when Washington Furnace was in
blast. Failing in the iron business he became a teacher of a select school in
Mt. Pleasant, and followed this profession during the few remaining years of
his life.

John W. Geary entered Jefferson College at Cannonsburg, Pennsylvania,
but the sudden death of his father cut his college course short, for to assist in
the support of his mother he began teaching school and never returned to col-
lege. He was also a clerk in a store, and began to study surveying and civil
engineering. In this employment he went to Kentucky, where he was in the
employ of the state and of the Green River Railroad Company to lay out sev-
eral important lines. On his return to Pennsylvania he became assistant
superintendent cf the Portage Railroad, crossing the Allegheny mountains,
and was thus engaged when the Mexican war broke out. He raised a com-
pany in Cambria county, called the American Highlanders. It was taken into
service at Pittsburg and became part of the Second Regiment, under com-
mand of Colonel Roberts, with Geary as lieutenant-colonel. On the death
of Roberts, Geary succeeded him as colonel of the regiment. His services in
the Mexican war were without special incident. At its close he went to Cali-
fornia, where President Polk had appointed him postmaster of San Francisco
in 1849. He was also mail agent for the Pacific coast, with almost unbounded
authcTity in the way of appointing postmasters, establishing mail routes, and
in making contracts for carrying the mail throughout California. When Zach-
ary Taylor became president he removed Gearv from office, but eight days
afterwards he was elected alcade of San Francisco by a popular vote. Soon
after this he was appointed governor of the territory of California and judge
of the First Instance. These offices were of Mexican origin. The office of
alcade combined that of probate judge, recorder, notary public and coroner.
The Court of First Instance had extensive civil and criminal jurisdiction, and
passed also on cases arising on the seas, cases usually passed on by Admiralty
courts. On May i, 1850, he was elected first mayor of San Francisco. He
declined a re-election, but was put on the board of commissioners to manage
the public debt of the city, and was made chairman of the board. He was also
chairman of the Territorial Committee, and as such secured a Free-State clause
in the constitution of California and had the clause referred to the people of
the state for ratification.

In February, 1852, he returned to Westmoreland county because of the
failing health of his wife, who died February 28, 1853. Here he was engaged
in farming, his farm being near New Alexandria, paying special attention to
the raising of fine stock, In 1855 President Pierce offered him the governor-

66o HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

ship of Utah, which he declined. Soon afterwards he was appointed governor
of Kansas, and was commissioned in July, 1855. He removed at once to Kan-
sas. He was governor of Kansas Territory till March, 1857. He then re-
turned to his farm and remained here till the breaking out of the Civil war.

When Fort Sumter was fired on he opened an office for recruits, and ten-
dered his services to President Lincoln. They were promptly accepted and
he was authorized to raise a regiment, he being commissioned a colonel. So
great was the war feeling among our people that sixty-six companies offered to
enter his command. He was permitted to increase his regiment to sixteen
companies, with one battery of six guns, the full regiment consisting of 1551
officers and men. The artillery subsequently became the somewhat renowned
Knapp's Battery.

His services in the Civil war greatly distinguished him, and were such as
would call for a much more extensive review than the space in a county his-
tory will permit. They belong naturally to the state and nation, and may be
read with interest in any good history of the Civil war.

Geary was a Democrat at the breaking out of the Civil war, and as such
entered the service. At its close he was a Republican, and in 1866 was nomi-
nated by the Republican party for the governorship of Pennsylvania. He was
elected and was inaugurated governor on January 15, 1867. In 1869 he was
again nominated, without serious opposition, and was again elected for a term
of three years. The term of his second election expired in January, 1873.
He had arranged to go west to engage extensively in railroad building, but was
taken ill and died suddenly in Pittsburg a few days after the close of his
second term of governorship.

In personal appearance he was of large build, and apparently had many
years of usefulness before him, for he died at the age of fifty-three. He was a
Presbyterian in religion, and was a man of exceptionally good habits. His
first wife was Margaret Ann, a daughter of James R. Logan, of Westmoreland
county. By her he had two sons who grew to manhood. One of them be-
came an officer in the regular army, and the other, Edward, was killed at the
battle of Wauhatchie, in the Civil war. In November, 1858, he was married
to Mrs. Mary C. Henderson, of Cumberland county. He was naturally a man
of executive ability and of great energy rather than a man of brilliant intellec-
tual powers.

RICHARD COITLTER DRUM was born in Grecnsburg in 1825, and was
graduated from the Grecnsburg Academ\-" to Jefferson College. He did net
remain long enough to be graduated there. Returning to Grecnsburg he be-
gan to study law, and in the meantime had learned the printing business.
When about nineteen years old the Mexican war came, in 1846. His older
brother was already a graduate from West Point, and from him he had imbibed
a military spirit.

December 8th, therefore, he entered the Mexican war as a private in Com-

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 66i

pany K, First Pennsylvania Volunteers. In February, 1847, he was commis-
sioned second lieutenant of infantry, and assigned to the Ninth Regiment. In
the battle of Chapultepec, September 13, he gallantly Jed a charge, and was
lirevetted. But his success was saddened by the death of his brother, who fell
in the famous charge upon Belen Gate. At the close of the war he was trans-
ferred to the Fourth Artillery, and with it was ordered to Florida. In the
same regiment were such men as Pemberton, A. P. Howe, Garnett, INIansfield,
Lovell, Fitz John Porter, and others who afterwards attained distinction in the
Civil war. At Fort Sumter, September 16, 1850, he received the promotion to
first lieutenant earned at Chapultepec. For the next ten years he was with
the army and served with the Sioux expedition with Gen. Harney, and was
with him in his efforts to preserve peace during the Kansas disturbances of

In Novemlier, 1856, he was appointed an aide to Gen. Persifer F. Smith,
and also acted as assistant adjutant-general of the Department of the West.
In 1858 he returned to his battery at Fortress Monroe, and was made adjutant
of the post, March 16, 1861. His western experience gave him great know-
ledge of the western situation and was unfortunate for him, for it took him
away from the east, during the Civil war, when great opportunities to achieve
fame and earn promotions were open to all brave and capable military men.
He nevertheless was of great service to the Northern cause in the way of hold-
ing open and guarding an overland route of travel to the west, and of keeping
the Indians from revolting. The Mormons and the Mexican frontier also
needed constant attention, for the resources of the Northern states were already
severely strained by the war in the Southern states. How well he performed
these duties in the west was shown in a substantial manner by the people of
San Francisco and the west. October i, i860, they presented him with a purse
containing over $40,000 in gold as a mark of their appreciation of his services
during the war. August 3, 1861, he was prcsnoted to the rank of major,
and July 17, 1862, to that of lieutenant-colonel. At the close of the Civil
war he returned east and was made adjutant-general to Gen. Meade, whom he
accompanied south in the efforts of that period to reconstruct the states of
Georgia and Alabama. He remained in the sciith until March, 1869, when he
was promoted to a colonelcy in the Atlantic division of the army, with head-
quarters at Philadelphia. When Gen. Meade died he was made adjutant-gen-
eral to Gen. Hancock, his successor, and remained in that position till 1873.
At that time he was sent to the Division of the ]\Iissouri, with headquarters at
Chicago, and remained there till May 2, 1878.

In 1877 the country was convulsed with labor riots, and Gen. Drum's per-
sonal judgment and sound discretion which he exercised so wisely on the
Pacific coast during the Civil war were again called into requisition. The
riots came unlooked for, and when Generals Sherman and Sheridan were both
in the far west, far removed from the telegraph. A howling mob filled the
streets of Chicago, and they were rendered still more lawless by exaggerated

662 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

reports of the success of the strike in Pittsburg. Knowing his ability, the
War Department at Washington gave Gen. Drum full power to maintain the
public peace. He at once collected all the military forces within reach, and
with them guarded the city's property by placing Catling guns at the most
strategic points. He moreover patroled the entire city with bristling bayonets,
and by these vigorous measures cowed the mob without firing a single gun,
and yet saved the city from the slightest damage. For these services he re-
ceived the public plaudits of the people of Chicago and the highest commenda-
tions of the War Department.

On May 2, 1878, he was ordered to Washington, where he remained till
the retirement of Adjutant-Ceneral Townsend, on June 15, 1880, when he
succeeded him by appointment, and became the only adjutant-general in the
history of the nation, it is said, who had not been educated at West Point.
One of his first efforts in his new position was to recognize the militia of the
diflferent states, and try to have them uniform as much as possible in their
drills, rules, forms of government, etc. The militia he recognized as a nursery
from which, in times of war, the nation could readily secure officers and men
trained in military tactics. The response to this overture of friendship came
most heartily from all parts of the country. To be thus recognized by the
Covernment was more than the militia had expected, and, when it came from
a man so distinguished in the military annals of the ccimtry, it was indeed
overwhelming. Later he sent out tactical works, blank forms and books pre-
scribed for the regular army, and for the first time sent out regular army
officers to inspect the militia of the different states at their camps and musters.
The great advantage which this innovation has since been to the National
Cuard can scarcely be appreciated. Their great improvement dates from the
day Gen. Drum extended a helping hand to the state militia.

He was married in early life to a young woman named Morgan, the
daughter of a notable family of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and while he remained
adjutant-general was the head of one of the most fashionable and charming
households in Washington City. Though now many years retired from the
army, he is yet living and in good health. He is about five feet, nine inches
in height, dresses in excellent tiste, and is apparently almost as quick in his
movements as though he were a young man. Throughout all his life he wrote
rapidly, decided quickly, and executed promptly. The people of Westmore-
land county are proud of his life and character, and may well regard him as one
of their most gifted sons.

JOHN COVODE was born in Westmoreland county, March 17, 1808,
and became one of the most potent factors in the political and business world
our county ever produced. He was a son of Jacob Covode, and a grandson of
Garret Covode, a native of Holland, who was kidnapped in the streets of
Amsterdam by the captain of an out-going vessel. The kidnapped boy was
brought to Philadelphia and sold as a "redemptioner," Under this mode of

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 663

servitude, which was sancticned by our law and has been considered elsewhere
in this work, he was held for several years after he became of age. During
this time it is said that he was employed as a domestic servant in the Mount
Vernon household of Washington. He was born in the same year that gave
birth to Washing;ton, 1732, and was kidnapped about 1736. He finally re-
deemed himself from this unjust bondage and then started out in the world for
himself. He lived to a good old age, dying in 1826, aged ninety-four years.
It is not supposed that his name when a child in Holland was Garret Covode,
but rather that that name was given him by the captain who had stolen him.
John Covode's mother's name was Updegraff. She was of Quaker extrac-
tion, and there is a tradition in the family that two of her ancestors, with a man
named Wood, prepared a protest against the decision of William Penn in

recognizing the legality of African slavery in Pennsylvania. It was moreover
said to have been the first anti-slavery manifesto published in this country.

Mr. Covode was brought up on a farm and taught habits of industry and
economy which he retained until his death. When a young man he learned
the trade of woolen manufacturing in New York State, and this engaged his
attention in i^art for the remainder of his life. There was no time, we think,
that he was not interested in the making of woolen textile fabrics. His place
of birth and of residence was in the northern part of Ligonier Valley, in Fair-
field township, which then bordered on the Conemaugh. When the Pennsvl-
vania canal was built, therefore, it found him already located near its route,
and he began life by working and contracting on its construction. When it was
completed he engaged in transporting goods on it. It is said that he com-
manded the first section-boat which went from Philadelphia to the Ohio. He

664 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

was engag-ed in the mercantile business also, and in each venture was remark-
ably successful. All this preceded his entry into the political world. He
was later one of the early advocates of the construction of the Pennsylvania
railroad, and was also a lifelong stockholder in it.

His first venture in the political world, as an office-seeker, at least, was in
1844, when he was the Whig candidate for state senator. The district wa.s
strongly Democratic and his defeat was a foregone conclusion. Yet when he
entered the field a second time he came so nearly being elected that the Dem-
ocrats, being in power in the state, and being alarmed at his growing popularity
among the Whigs, changed the district so as to put him into a district that was
so strongly Democratic that he could not hope to win. This second canvass
was made in 1850, and his successful opponent was Col. John McFarland, of
Ligonier. When he was twenty-three years old he was appointed a justice cf
the peace for "Ligonier and Fairfield Townships" by Governor Wolf. In this
humble position his neighbors bestowed on him the sobriquet of "Hcnest" John
Covode, and this he retained till his death. In 1854, when forty-six years of
age, he was nominated for Congress by the Whigs of the nineteenth district,
then composed of the counties of Westmoreland, Indiana and Armstrong. His
opponent was Augustus Drum, an accomplished lawyer of his day, who was
then a member of Congress, having been elected two years before by a large
majority. lUit Mr. Drum had tinfnrtunatel)- introduced a measure relative to
the Wilmot Proviso which made liini enemies among the Abolition clement of
the Nineteenth district. As a result, Mr. Covode defeated him by the then
handsome majority of 2,757 votes. He was thus a member of the XXXI Vth
Congress, and was re-elected in 1856, 1858, and in i860. March 5, i860, he
introduced a resolution providing for a committee of five members of the
house to "investigate whether the President of the United States," (James
Buchanan), "or any other officer of the Government has, by money, patronage
or other improper means, sought to influence the action of Congress, or any
committees thereof, for or against the passage of any law appertaining to the
rights of any State or Territory," etc. Of this committee he was made chair-
man, and as such personally conducted a long and laborious system of inquiries
which has been known in history as the "Covode Investigation." He unfor-
tunately had no confidence in the administration of Buchanan. A'oluminous
testimony was taken, which was published in an elaborate report. A great
many disclosures were made which, when published, to say the least, produced
a most painful impression on the public mind, and greatly increased the un-
popularity cf the administration. In the light of subsequent events a revision
of the report would be required, that justice be done either to Mr. Buchanan
or j\lr. Covode. But the disclosures made by the Covode Investigation passed
out of view when the Civil war came, for greater and more important questions •
were thus presented to the people of the United States for their solution. The
investigation, however, gave Mr. Covode a national reputation, and helptd
greatly to make him one of the potent factors in the Civil war period of our

■HISTORY OF U'ESTMORELAXD COUNTY. 665

nation's history. It exposed particularly the corrupt means by which the
Kansas and Nebraska legislation had been secured, and was for years almost
a text-book in the hands of Republican stump speakers and editors in all parts
of the United States. ]\Ir. Covode was a member of the Joint Committee on
the Conduct of the War up to ]\larch 4, 1863, when he retired temporarily from
Congress. He was elected again to Congress in 1866, and in 1868 was pitted
against Hon. Henry D. Foster, one of the most eminent lawyers western Penn-
sylvania ever produced. A bitter contest ensued, both claiming the election,
but the matter was decided in favor of Wr. Covode.

Pennsylvania had been a Democratic state generally until i860, and in
1863 it was doubtful if the *Governor, Andrew G. Curtin, could be re-elected,
though he was a very able and popular man. Mr. Covode was put up as a
candidate for the nomination and would undoubtedly have made a strong can-
didate. He was chairman of the Republican state committee in 1869 and held
the position till his death.

On January 10, 1871, he reached Harrisburg on his way to Washington, in
apparently good health and passed a pleasant evening in Harrisburg in consul-
tation with friends from various parts of the state who had met him there, per-
haps by appointment. Expecting to take the morning train to Washington,
he retired early. About three o'clock he was awakened by a severe pain
about his heart. Medical skill was summoned at once, but in less than two
hours he was numbered with the dead.

^Ir. Covode's strong characteristics were his simplicity, his earnestness,
and his sagacity and energy, and if to these is added kindness, his make-up
will be complete. He had not been well educated, and at best could but clothe
his ideas in homely phrase. Yet so earnest, so direct and good humored were
his popular addresses, that the studied preparation of the most polished law-
yers was almost impotent when compared with his efiforts. His simplicity
made him a power with President Lincoln. Gen. N. P. Banks accredits Covode
with having induced Lincoln, against the ruling of Secretary Stanton and
.against the advice of some of his most prominent supporters, to issue the order
directing the mimediate and unreserved exchange cf prisoners during the latter
part of the war.

By industry and business tact he had amassed an ample competence for
that day, and had earned the name of being a shrewd business man and finan-
cier. In the early years of the war, when bankers and capitalists were doubting
the advisability of investing in the war loan to be issued, Mr. Covode tele-
graphed the Secretary of the Treasury that he would take $50,000.00 of the
forthcoming bonds. The effect of the telegram was to greatly strengthen the
.public credit, and in this way it was worth more to the government than the
amount paid for the bonds. He made but few, if any, set speeches in Con-
gress, and one looks in vain in the columns of the Congressional Globe for
the source or evidence of his great power and prominence. His strength lay
in the fact that he was a fearless and tireless worker, a doer of things, a har-

666 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

monizer of discordant elements. Thciigh he won his elections only by bitter
contests, he at once forgave his opponents, and in representing his district
knew no party lines whatever. It was these ciualities which combined to make
him popular in his district and state, and the same qualities were the sequel of
his power in Congress. In reviewing his character. Senator John Sherman, of
Ohio, spoke these words :

''I can truthfully say that I know of no one in public life who was a truer
friend, more faithful to his convictions of duty, less influenced by bitterness
and malignity, and who was less changed by his long political service, than
the plain John Covode of our early acquaintance. It so happened that I once
visited his district and sought the secret of his- continued popularity at his
home, where there had been many political changes. He had been engaged
extensively in many branches of business ; had accumulated a large fortune ;
from a laboring man had become the employer of thousands of laborers ; had
held high official position ; and yet, in all these changes had continued the
same plain-hearted, genial, kind and accessible John Covode. He felt and
knew the popular pulse, because he mingled with and knew the people as well
as any man in public life."

Charles Sumner, the polished scholar and senator from Jilassachusetts,
Ijore this tribute to his worth :

"I wish to say a few words of him and his career which I hope will impress
the youth of the country. In him we have a bright illustration of what may
te attained under a political system which invites every kind of ability to its
service, which welcomes every description of talent, and which excludes none
from the responsibilities and honors of public life. However much of honor
and fame John Covode may have earned by his public services, he holds a
higher place in my esteem for the true courage he possessed. I have never
honored him more than when, in a speech in Philadelphia not long ago, he
boldly proclaimed what other and weaker men would have labored to suppress,
•and announced, as a reason for his hostility to every species of human bond-
age, the fact that his grandfather had been sold as a "redemptionist" near the
very spot where he was then speaking to thousands on matters of high import-
ance ; standing up an acknowledged leader in a land famous for the number
and abilities of its leading men and the average intelligence of its people. He
was the irreconcilable foe of slavery because, in the traditions of his family,
that detestation was the outgrowth of experience, of bitter suffering, of un-
merited reproach. He loved liberty as one to whom its beauty was a reality
and not merely a sentiment. And so the same practical traits are to be seen
all through his character. As one denied the blessings and advantages of an
education, he was an unflinching friend of free schools. As an American
laborer, his life was spent in shielding American labor from the blight of for-
eign competition. As a Pennsylvanian he loved the state which gave him
"birth and the sepulcher to his fathers. As an American citizen, he loved the
land where he and his kindred found refuge and honor. His was a sympathic

^ ,y6C.U6o66o

The Zeiins Fiihlishm^ L

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUXTV. 667

hcort and his hand was open. He alleviated the sorrows and afflictions of his
neighbors with unstinted generosity."

DR. ALEXANDER McLEOD :\IILLIGAN. There is no name in the
church history of Westmoreland county which shines forth with more lustre
than that of Milligan. From the sturdy Scotch grandsire of the early years
of last century down to the polished and eloquqent grandsons of today, three
generations of ministers have worthily born the name, and each in turn, eight
in all, have contributed to its greatness. Like the Beechers, they have been a
family of great ministers, and like them they sprang from a famous ancestry,
whose greatness was eclipsed by the matchless eloquence of an illustrious son.

The ancestor was Dr. James Milligan. He was born in Scotland, August
7, 1785, and came to America and settled in Westmoreland county in 1801.
Though brought up in the Presbyterian faith, he joined the Covenanter
church in 1805, and prepared himself for the ministry. He was graduated
with honor from Jefferson Ccllege in 1809, and after a theological course be-
gan preaching in 1812. In 1817 he was installed pastor at Ryegate, Vermont,
where he was married to Miss Mary Trumbull in 1820. He remained there
until 1839, when he removed with his family to New Alexandria, in this county,
and became pastor of the Covenanter church of that place. In 1848 he re-
moved to Illinois and remained there until 1855, after which he was engaged
mostly in the missionary work of his church. He died in Michigan, January
2, 1862. He was a man of high intellectual attainments and was perhaps
most noted for his knowledge of the languages and the fearless manner in
which he denounced the evils of his day, particularly those of slavery and in'
temperance. On these questions there were few men of his day equal to him.
His public utterances on the slavery question were not confined to his church,
but he traveled widely in the East, and by his eloquence awakened great sym-
pathy for the oppressed race of the South.

He had three sons who rose to eminence in the ministry — Alexander Mc-
Leod, born in 1822; James Saurin Turretin, born in 1826; and John Calvin
Knox, born in 1829.

It was Alexander McLeod ]\Hlligan who became in our judgment the
ablest minister and the most fearless and eloquent speaker our county has yet
produced. From his earliest youth his father designed him for the ministry
and directed his studies to that end. To assist in procuring an education he
began teaching school near New Alexandria, his heme. In 1843 h^ was
graduated from Duquesne College, and pursued the study of theology in Alle-
gheny and Cincinnati Seminaries. He was licensed to preach by the Pitts-
burg Presbytery in 1847, and the year following began his life work by suc-
ceeding his father as pastor of the United Congregations of Greensburg arid
New Alexandria. Remaining there until 1853, he was called to the pastorate
of the Third Congregation of Philadelphia. In 1856 he returned to his first
charge, where he remained ten years, after which he removed to Pittsburg,

668 HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY.

uiid there labored until his death. During- all these years his work was not by
any means confined to the pulpit. He was a leader of public thought, and ad-
vocated the cause of abolition in almost every part of the Union, and, it must
be remembered, too, that he did this in an age when abolition was the most un-
popular of all public causes, and when even the churches of the Union had not
yet taken up the question. His eye never quailed nor was his voice ever hushed
by opposition or by threats of personal violence.

Nature had lavishly bestowed her gifts on Dr. Milligan. In personal ap-
pearance he was fully six feet tall, finely built and commanding, and at sight
mipressed his hearers with the importance of the message he bore. His power-
ful voice was extremely musical and flexible, and always under the most per-
fect control. In a few short sentences he could at will expand it from the gen-
tle tones like those of a flute, which he was wont to use in conversation, to a
climax of clarion notes which would fill the auditorium and startle his hearers
in the remotest galleries. Thrilled by his magnetic eloquence, which was fre-
quently compared with that of Henry Ward Beecher, his audience forgot the
passing hour and remembered only the down-trodden slave or the lowly
Nazarene whose cause he pleaded.

Few men of his day had studied more closely the public questions of the
hour than he. His mind was well stored with information on all topics and he
spoke, whether in the pulpit or on the platform, as though from an inexhausti-
ble storehouse within. And with unusual readiness could he summon all his
powers and call them into action. He introduced Louis Kossuth when he
visited the United States in 1854, in a short address, and the great Hungarian
leformer said of him that he was the ablest natural orator- he had ever heard
on either side of the Atlantic ocean.

Preeminently, however, he was a minister of the gospel, and those who
heard the preacher, heard him at his best. But perhaps outside cf the pulpit
llie cause which lay nearest his heart was the abolition of slavery. It mattered
not to him that the cause was in that day extremely unpopular. Like Garri-
son, Stevens, Beecher, Philips, Adams and Giddings, he bore without com-
plaint his full share of the obloquy which was heaped upon all who dared to-
raise their voices in defense of the black man. He deemed no sacrifice too
great if it could but advance the cause. Audiences in the Eastern cities which
had scarcely passed from under the magic spell of the great Beecher found
themselves enchained and convinced by the majestic eloquence of Alilligan.
He was, in the true sense of the term, a magnetic speaker.

He sided with John Brown, not perhaps with the drastic method he
adopted to further his scheme, but certainly with his purpose to free the
Slaves by force. He wrote him a consolatory letter in 1859, when he was
confined in jail under sentence of death. This letter has since been published
broadcast throughout the country. In 1861 he reiterated his admiration for
the old hero by naming his son Ossawattomie Brown, now one of the ablest
ministers of Ohio. From one of his public letters we quote the following:

HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY. 669

"I lejoice that I have lived to see the emancipation and enfranchisement of the
slave, for whose liberty I gave twenty of the best years of my life." He was
prominent in any field of labor he sought to enter, which required the ability
of an advocate, and whether in the pulpit or on the platform, or in the councils
of the church, composed only of learned men, he was listened to with the same
marked attention and eager interest. Although his reputation rests mostly
on his ability as a public speaker, yet the Christian Statesman, Our Banner,
and other church magazines contain many contributions from his able pen.
These show beyond doubt his mastery of the subjects he handled, and that his
strength as a speaker lay largely in the clear expression which he gave to his
thoughts.

In 1847 lie was married to Ellen Snodgrass, a daughter of Hon. John
Snodgrass, of New Alexandria. He survived her, and on August 24, 1871,
he was married to Belle A. Stewart, who yet lives in New Alexandria.

Perhaps the most marked trait of his character was his love of home life
and of children. He was never so happy as when surrounded by them, and
his family yet exhibits a smiling picture of him with four mirthful grand-
children on his knee. It was doubtless this inborn feeling for the weak and
innocent that led him to espouse the cause of the helpless and down-trcdden
African slave.

In the spring of 1884 his health began to fail and he journeyed to Southern
California, hoping that a milder climate would benefit him. Disappointed in
this, attended by his faithful wife, he turned his face homeward to die, as he
thought, among his kindred. Unfortunately he died on his way, on the train
in Wyoming, on JMay 7, 1885. His remains were brought home, and while
they lay in state in Pittsburg, colored people flocked to weep over his death
and to honor the fearless advocate of the rights of their race. He is buried
in Bellevue cemeterv, in .AUeghenv.

INDEX

PAGE

Adamsburg, borough of 504

Addison, Judge Alexander ^-7

African Slavery in County 57

Agriculture, 442; Statistics of 443-4

Albany Purchase, The, From Indians. . 35

Albert, George Dallas 369

Alexander, John B., in War of 1812.

244 ; as a lawyer 339

Allegheny County Formed 191

Allegheny Township, 579; First Set-
tlers, Schools, Churches 580

Alliance Furnace 447

Anderson. Noted Highwayman 564

Arnold, Borough of 607

Armstrong, Colonel John, Expedition

Against Indians 12

Armstrong, John, Sr., and John 364

Assembly, Act of, Creating County... 43

Associators. in Revolution 127

Attorneys, List of 3/2-375

Bancroft, George, refers to Pittsburg

22 ; to Morgan's Rifles 139

Barclay, John Y 349

Barclay, Thomas J 350

Barr, James 128

Bayard, Col. Stephen 134-141

Beacom, Jas. S 484

Beaujeu, Captain, opposed Braddcck, is

killed 10

Beaver, John F 344

Bedford. County Seat 42

Bell Township 610

Belle Vernon, North. Borough of.... 521

Bells on Domestic Animals ^. . . . 212

Bench and Bar ' . . . 320

Benedictine, Order of, First Priest Or-
dained in America 31S

Bessemer, Sir Henry, His Discovery. Its

Effect on Iron Manufacturing 456

Bitter Feeling Among Officers of Rev-
olution in County 148

Block Houses, Forts, Etc., Described.. 81

Boliyar. Borough of 532

Bennett's School 408

Border Troubles During Revolution... 136
Boscawan. .Admiral. .Arrives with Fleet 13

Boston Port Bill, Effect of 126

Boundary between Maryland and Vir-
ginia Settled 65-66

Bouquet. Col. Henry, 14; Relieves Fort
Duquesne. 27; In Battle of Bushy
Run, Nature of His Army, 28;

Sketch of 31

Bnw and .-Xrrow. Strength and Use of. . 68
Brackcnridge. Hugh Henry, 54; in

Whisky Insurrection 201-206

Braddock. Gen. Edward, arrives in

PAGE

America, appoints Washington aide-
de-camp, interest in his campaign, 4 ;
his trip westward, remarks of Benja-
min Franklin, 5; divides his army,
his route across Westmoreland, 6;
cross the Monongahela river, 7 ; bat-
tle on bank of river, 8; Washington's
account of battle, Braddock is
wounded, his death, general charac-
ter. 9; losses of army, 10; effects of

defeat 11

Braddock's Road 236

Bradford, David, in Whisky Insur-
rection 207

Brants School, 414 ; Names of Early

Teachers and Pupils 416-17

Broadhead, Colonel, Expedition of
Eighth Regiment Against Indians. 87
Censures Rangers, Their Defense... 147
Brownlee, Captain Joseph, at Burning

of Hannastown 176, 179, 180, 157

Brush Creek Church 306-503

Brush Hill Farm 518

Buffington. Judge Joseph, 334; Estimate

of Foster 351

Bullet, Captain, Rescues Grant's Army. 15
Burd, Captain James, commands at Bat-
tle of Ligonier, writes letter 17

Burrell, Judge Jeremiah Murry 331

Burrell, Townships of, Lower and Up-
per 604

Burrows, Thomas H 419

Bushy Run, Battle of, 28; General Esti-
mate of 30

Butler. Colonel Richard, enters Revolu-
tion 132

Butler. Colonel Thomas 135

Butler Family 142

Byerly. Andrew, at Bushy Run, 28;
Land Warrant 24

California Furnace 452

Campbell, Robert, Captured by Indians 93
Canals, 265; Description of, 267; For

Passengers 268

Carmichael, John, Delegate to Conven-
tion 129

Carnahan, Colonel James, 135 : death

of 159

Carnahan, Dr. James 136-159

Carnegie, .Andrew. An Early Coke Pro-
ducer 468

Casualitics of Mexican War 277

Casualities of Snanish Americnn War.. 476
Catholic Church, the Early Members.
311 : Father Browers. 312; Monastery
Church 314-319

(^72

PAGE

Cavett, James, Sent to State Conven-
tion 127

Chapman, Dr. H. L., Letter of 455

Chapultcpec, Battle of 274

Charcoal, Burning of 455

Cherubusco. Battle of 274

Christie, Colonel James 134

Church History, Review of Religious

Movements 285

Circular Fox Hunt .' 218

Civil War 426

Clark, General George Rogers Expedi-
tion 148

Clark. James C 365

Clearings, How Made by Settlers 93

Clifford, Charles, Captured by Indians. 98
Clifford, James, Shoots Indian at Ligo-

nier loi

Clinton DeWitt, Builds Canal 266

Closing Years of Revolution 145

Coaches, First Line of 239

Coal, First Discovery, 458-459; Value

of Coal Lands 460

Coal Statistics, Table of 462-465

Coke Industry, 466; Early iNIanufac-
ture : Extent of Region, 467 : Andrew
Carnegie Manufactures, 468; Later
Developments, 469 ; Statistics of Out-
put 470

Color Bearer. Eleventh Regt 429

Common Schools, Early History of,

405. Center Union 410

Conestoga Wagons, Cigars 254-55

Connolly. John, 61: Arrests Justices.. 62

Continental Congress. Weakness of 87

Continental Money, Value of 225

Contrecoeur, Prevents Building Fort on

Ohio 3

Convention to Remodel State Govern-
ment, 127; Delegates to. Cook and

Perry 127

Cook. Edward. 128: Judge at Hannas-

town. 172; in Whisky Insurrection.. 201
Cook, Township of. 608; Stahlstown,

Pleasant Grove Church 609

Cook. Valentine. Rev 298

Cornwallis, General, Incident of Sur-
render 143

Coulter, General Richard '.'. 428

Coulter, Justice Richard 346

County Home ]|40

County Institute, Fi-rst in County 418

County Lieutenant 130

County Officers, List of 478-482

County Seat, Selection of 49

County Superintendents, Names of.

421; Movement to Abolish 420-421

Court House, of 1854, Building, Cost

Etc 437

Court House, the Present, Fourth. 616 :
Proceedings Incident to Construction,

C)i7 : Style, Cost, etc 619

Court Houses, Fir.st and Second 191-2

PAGE

Court Records at Hannastown, by

James Bryson 56

Courts, First in County 46

Covode, Col. Geo. H 433

Covode, Hon. John, 663 : Covode In-
vestigation, 665 ; Character by
Charles Sumner and John Sherman. 667

Cowan, Dr. Frank 371

Cowan, Edgar 353

Craig, Samuel, Disappears 539

Crawford Colonel William, Judge of
Courts, 321 ; Capture by Indians,

Cruelly Tortured 156

Crogan, George :!,^

Crops ..213

Curtin, Andrew G., Governor, Special

Order 427

Customs, Crops, Clothes, of Early
Days 208

Daily Newspapers in County 404

Denny, H. S 636

Derry, Borough of 546

Derry, Township of, 537 ; Early Settlers
538-39-41 ; Early Forts., etc., 540 ;
Craig and Shields, 541 ; Bears Cave

of 543

Deserters Among Soldiers 1.38

Dickens. Charles, on Canals 268

Dlnwiddie, Gov. Robert 1

Divesting Act, The 40

"Dobbs Family in America" 355

Donaldson. Dr.. Recollections of 528

Donegal, Borough of 535

Donegal, Township of, 534; Plank
Road, Pike Run Country Club. 535:

Early Churches of 5.16

Doty. Judge Lucien W 3-'7-484

Dress, of Pioneers 215

Droves. Cattle. Horses. Sheep 258

Drum Family, Augustus 348

Drum, Gen. Richard C. in ]\Iexican
War. Civil War. 661: Adjutant Gen-
eral United States Army. Improves

Militia 663

Drum. Simon H., in Mexican War 276

Dumas. M., Opinion of Fort Du-

quesue 3

Dunbar, Colonel, His Cowardly Flight. 9

Dunmore"s War 61

Dubuesne, Fort 3

Duquesne, !Marquis 3

Early Furnaces Described 455

East Huntingdon. Township of. First

Settlers, etc., 574; Schools, 575;

Churches 576

Ei;4>.ty-Fourth Regiment 4.34

Elder, Colonel Samuel 261

Election, First in County, 47 : Change

of Districts 48

Eleventh Regiment, Civil War 4^7-4^8

Eleventh Reserves. Civil War 431

Erwin, Captain Joseph 135

67.^

PAGE

Evans, Joseph, Execution of.- 619

Examination of Teachers, Early 407-14

Fairfield Presbyterian Church. . ,289, 526-7
Fairfield, Township of, 525 ; Fort Pal-
mer, $26 : Early Churches, 527 ; Dr.
Joseph Scroggs, 529; Early Schools. . S3i

Farmers Register 395

Felgar Road, The 239

Findley, James 343

Findley, William, as a Weaver, 643 ; in
Whisky Insurrection, 204, 646; in
Assemblv and Congress, as Author

■ 644-S

Finley, Rev. James 288

Flax, Its Culture, Manufacture, etc. .213-14

Flintlock Guns 68

Forbes. General John, Arrives in Amer-
ica, Builds Road, His Army, 13; Trip
Westward, 18; Route From Ligonier,
19-20; ]\Iarch of Army, 21; Sketch

of 23

Forbes Road 13, 231, 237

Fork of Oh^^ ^lectins Place of In-
dians 235

Formation rif C- luiity , •. . . 42

Fortieth Regiment, nth Reserves 431

Fort Ligonier. SJ-S4 ; ^ilap of 83

Fort Meigs, Battle at •. . .248-9

Fort Necessity 4

Fort Necessity. Battle at 4

Fort Palmer 526

Fort Preservation 84

Forts in Derry Township 540

Fort Walthour 102

Fort Williams 88

Forty-third Regiment 432

F^oster, A. W 342

Foster. Henry D 350

Four Fingers 341

Fourteenth Regiment, Civil War 430

Fourth Cavalrv, 64th Regiment....... 432

Fox Hunt. Circular 588

Francis Family Murdered 104

Frank Cowans Paper 401

Franklin Benjamin 5

Franklin. Township of, 546; Early
Churches, 547; Murrysville Gas Well,
5=;o: Jeremiah Murrv. Z. G. Stewart. 549

French Affiliate With Indians 3

French and Indian War 4

French Canadian Forts I

Friendly Indians Killed 147-8

Frontier Privations 14S

Frost of 1859 621

Fulton. .Andrew M 359

Furnace Site. Selection of 455

Gallagher. General Thos. F 431

Gallatin, Albert, in Whisky Insurrec-
tion '. 201-3

Gay, Captain Edward li. .430

Geary, Jno. W., 430 ; in \\ .ir. as Gover-
nor ; . .'. 659

PAGE

George, Conrad 257

Gibsons Sons Distillery 522

Giddings, Joshua R., Letter on Rail-
road Travel 283

Girty, Simon 80

Gist, Christopher, at Great Meadows,

3 ; First to Cross County 235

Given, Wm. M' 362

Grant, Colonel, Sent From Loyal-

hanna, 14; Defeat 16

Greely, Horace, Notes Change of Cli-
mate : 216

Green, General Nathanael 193

Greensburg Block House 106

Greensburg Democrat 398

Greensburg, Early Population. 487 ;
Early Hotels, 488; Early Business
Houses, 490; Early Public Amusements,,
Elephant, 492 : Modern Amusements,
501 ; First School House, 492 ; Early
Teachers, 493; Alumni of Academy,
495; Fire of 1858; Other Fires, Mar-
ket House, 496: First Reformed
Church, Lutheran Church, 497 : Pres-
byterian Church, 498: Episcopal
Church, iMethodist Church, 499; U.
B. Church, Cemeteries, 500; Indus-
tries 501

Greensburg Gazette 397

Greensburg Seminary 303

Greensburg U. P. Church 295

Ground for Court House, Parts Sold. 192
Guyasootha, Commands at Bushy Run
28-32

Hacke, Dr. Nicholas P 302

Hague. Hother, Earlv Surveyor 281

Halket, Sir Peter 7

Hamilton, Alexander, Secretary of

Treasury 198

Hamilton, Fort in Ohio 105

Hanna, Robert, Sent to Philadelphia

127 ; Judge of Courts 32S

Hannastown, County Seat, 49-51 ;
Hannastown Fort. 85 ; Burned by In-
dians. 171 : Condition of Countv, 172;
Huffnagle, Alichael, His Report. 172-
174; James Brison, David Shaw,
Matthew Jack, 173; INIiller's Block
House, 175; Tradition of Wedding,
176; Brownlee's Capture, Death,
Grave, 177-79-80; Relief of the Fort
by Stratagem; Prisoners Taken. 181-
182; Commander of Indian Forces,
Heroes of Hannastown, The Town
Not Rebuilt, 183 ; Petition of Brown-
lee's Widow, Mrs. Hanna and
Daughters, 184; Original Intention of

Raiders 185

Hannastown Resolutions. 123; Their

Supposed Author 124-125

Hardships of Pioneer Preachers 290

Harman Family. Killed by Indians,
Sons Captured 90-91

674

INDEX

PAGE

Harrisnii. Wm. H., Compliments Our

Soldiers 251

Harrold Church, Reformed 301

Hawkins, Col. A.L., :Monument to . . . 476

Hazlett, J. J 363

Hempfield Township, First Settlers. 502-503

Hill, Rev. George 289

Hoopes, Jno. S 418-19-21

Hopkins, John Henry 451

Huff, George F 484

Huguenots ii7

Hull's Surrender 243

Hunter, Judge James A 338

Incompatibility of Office 47

Indian Trails 234

Indian Tried and Executed at H annas-
town 55

Indians of Western Pennsylvania, 67;
Origin of Race, Method of Hunting,
68; Names of Tribes, Marriage Dis-
position. 69; Their Endurance,
Methods of Fighting, 70 ; Appearance,
Homes, etc., 71 ; Fortifications,
Work Performed by Women. 72;
Close Observers, Bravery, 73: Steal-
ing. Endurance, Increase of Race, 74;
Religion. Sickness, General Nature,
Compared with Other Races, Good
and Bad Traits, Love of Rum,
Bright Colors, 76; Difficult to Civil-
ize, Colonel Bouquet's Desire as to
. the Race 77

Iron, Early Manufacture of. 445 ; Dis-
covery in America, First Furnace
in Western Pennsylvania, 447 ; Letter
From Beers on Iron Industry. 454;
Reasons for Decline of Industry.... 456

Irving. Washington, Description of
Stage Driver 262

Irwin, Borough of 517

Jack, Captain Matthew, 139. 162 ; at

Hannastown 173

Jack, Judge William 325

Jail at Hannastown 51

Jamison, Robert S 115

Jeannette, Borough of 504

Johnston, Alexander 647

Johnston. Captain John W 278

Johnston, Joseph J 370

Johnston, Richard. Killed in Mexico. . 277
Jfohnston, Sir William, 38 ; Treaty

With Indians 39

Johnston. Wm. F., 649; Governor 650

Jones, Henry M 422

Judges of Courts 1790 to 1905 327

Judiciary, Tenure of Office 320

Keenan, Edward J 358

Keenan. General James, in War. His
Appointments, 658; Marriage. Death,
Character 659

P.\GE

King, Dr. Alfred, 379 ; Discovery in
Geology, 381 ; Appointed Professor,

Unmarked Grave 382-

King of England, His Reserved Priv-
ileges 36

Kingston Forge 452

Knott, Raid on Indians 104

Knox, Judge John C Zi^

Kuhns, H. Byers 364

Kuhns, Joseph H. 363

Lafayette, Visits County 622

Laird, Captain James M 476

Laird, H. P 366

Laird, Jno. M 345-40I

Lame Indian, Trial, Escape 103-4

Land Office 40

Larimer, General William, Ancestry.
653 ; Children, 655 ; Organizes West-
moreland Coal Company. 655 ; Military
Life, 656; Moves West. Anecdote of
Horace Greely, 656 ; Address at Den-
ver. Death, Commissions 658

La Salle, Early Explorations 2

Latrobe, Borough of 557

Laughlinstown, 589 ; Described by Sal-
lie Hasting, 590; Armor Bros." Mu-
seum 591

Laux, Jas. B 402

Law Association of County 371

Lawyers. Eminent in the Past T,i9

Lecturers at County Institute 423

Lee, Gen. Henry L., Memoirs Quoted 140
Letters. How Formerly Addressed.... 238

License, by Early Courts. Rates 46

Ligonier Borough, 591 ; Called by Other
Names, 595 ; Letter From Dr. Chap-
man, S97 ; As a County Seat, 587 ;

Fox Hunt 588-

Ligonier. Fort, Besieged by Indians ;

Relieved by Ourry, by Bouquet 27

Ligonier Free Press 402-3

Ligonier. Sir John (Lord"), 592; His

son Edward 593

Ligonier Township, 584; State Road.. 586-
Lincoln Abraham. Born in Log Cabin.

212; His Loyalty to the Union 426

Lincoln. General Benjamin, Commands

Eighth Regiment 138

Livermore Borough 545

Lobengier, Christopher 129

Lochry, Archibald, County Lieutenant.
130; 111 Fated Expedition. iNIarch

Westward. Death. Sketch 148-153

Logan. Judge James A 335

Log Cabin Campaign 256

Log Houses, How Built, 209-10: De-
scription. 211; Webster Refers to... 212
Longfellow, Henry W., Evangeline... 286

Long Run Presbyterirn Church 289

LovcMhanna, Townsb'-p of. 603; Earlv

Se.''r's. 604

Lutheran Church ..... .' 304

Lutje, Rev. /. y.. First Preacher 304

IXDEX

6/5

PAGE

Lyell, Sir Charles, visited Greensburg;
Knighted by Queen Victoria; Letter
to Citizens of Greensburg 381

Lyon, Gordon ^L, Builder of School
House 495

Mackay, Col. Aeneas 137, 140

Maidenfoot, Friendly Indian 108

!NLin6r Borough 613

I^Ianufacturing in County, 471 ; Statis-

, tics " 470-71

Marchand Family 359-6o

Markle, Captain Joseph, in War of
1812, List of Company. 248; Sketch.

651; Candidate for Governor 652-3

Markle, W. H. H 364

Martin Hugh 115, 507

Martin, John, Capture of Family 114

Mason and Dixon's Line 66

McAfee, J. R 363

McCann. P. F 484

McClelland. John 129

;\IcColly, Bales, Anecdote of Gen. Fos-
ter 352

McConnell, Judge Alexander D., 327;

Re-elected without Opposition 484

^McCormick, Dr. James L, Graduated
Superintendent of Schools, 383 ;
Read Medicine. Standing as a Physi-
cian and Scholar 385

McCuIlough, Welty 364

McFarlane, Major James 207

!McGowan, Dr. Wni. D ig

]\Ieans, Mrs. and Daughter 108

Mechling. Rev. Jonas 307

Medical Profession 376

Mellon. Judge Thomas 308

Mendell. Noah 261

Mennonite Church 120, 309

Mercer, Colonel Hugh, at Ligonier,

18: at Fort Pitt 22

Merchants. First in County. Their

Trips for Goods 226

Methodist Episcopal Church 296-7

Mexican War, 271 ; Commanders. 273 ;
List of Soldiers, 272 ; Leave Greens-
burg, reach Mexico, 273 : Molina del
Re}', 275 ; Vera Cruz. Hot climate.
276; Soldiers From County in other

Companies. Welcomed Home 278

Mills for Grinding Grain in Early

Days 231

Military Permits, Copy 37

Militia Companies 271

Miller's Block House 86

Milligan. Alexander McLeod, Family
of. 668: Oratory in Pulpit and

Against Slaverv. 669: Death 670

Mississiniwa, Battle of 246

Mitchell Family Captured 107

Monastery Cliurch 317

Monessen. Boronsl. of 523

Moore. Judge Jolm. . . 129. 322

^loravian Indians, Murtt^r of 154-5

P.\CE

Morgan. Gen. John H., His Raid 436

^Morgan's Rifles 131)

Mt. Pleasant. Borough of, 510;
Churches. 511; Classical Institute,

Glass Industry, 513; Hospital 514

^It. Pleasant, Township of. 506; Early

Settlers. 507; Churches ". 508

Murray, Jeremiah 54()

Murray. John, Earl of Dunmore.... 61

Murrysville 549

Murrysville Gas Well 550

Nemacolons Path 234

Neville, General John, in Whisky In-
surrection 207

New Alexandria Borough, 560; Un-
known Country Town 126

New Florence, Borough of 614

New Kensington, Borough of 606

Newspapers, in German Language.... 402

New Stanton 504

New State Government of 1776. Na-
ture of 131

Newtown, Changed to Greensburg. . . .192-3
Nicely, Jacob, Captured by Indians.... 112

North Belle Vernon, Borough of 521

Northern Turnpike 239

North Huntingdon, Township of, 515;
Early Settlers, Churches, Long Run
Church 516

Oath of Allegiance, the New 13a

Ohio Companv i

Old Pioneer Inn 264

Old Portage Road 280

One Hundred Years of Judges, 338 ;

Advancements Made 339

Ourry, Eve, Special Pension 170

Pack Horse Train 232-33

Painter. Jacob 255

Parkman. Francis, His "Ponti'ic's Con-
spiracy" 24

Parnassus, Borough of 606

Penn, Borough of 614

Penn Reservations 40

Pennsylvania Argus 400

Pennsylvania Dutch, Their Thrift.

Superstition, etc 1 18-19

Pennsylvania Railroad Incorporated.
281; Length in County. 279: Early
Railroad Projects. 267; Distance
Across State by Rail and Canal. 280;
Completed to Pittsburgh. 281 ; Early
Railroad Meetings in County. 2S1 ;
Locomotive Reaches Greensburg. Let-
ter of Joshua R. Giddings 282

Penn. Township of 611

Penn. William. Land Grant. Purchase

From Indians 33

Pensions Granted by Special Acts.. 169-70

Peoples. Jno. M 369

Perry, James, Delegate to Convention, 129

6j6

IXDEX

PACE

Physicians of County Since 1881. . .386-394
Pitt, William, 13; Supports Garrisons. 36
Pittsburgh and Philadelphia Turnpike,
How Built, 240; Engineering Dis-
played 241

Pittsburgh Seam of Coal 460

Plank Road 535

Politics in County. 482; Vote in 1828-

1832, Recent Elections 484

Pontiac's War, 24; Character of, 25;
Surrounds Forts Pitt and Ligonier

25-26

Portage Road' Over Mountains 267

Porter, Rev. Samuel 289, 565

Postage on Letters in Early Days 227

Postlethwaite, Dr. James, 376; Mar-
ried, 377; Noted Federalist, discus-
sion with Coulter 378

Postmaster, the Early Merchant 227

Powder, Home Manufacture of 222

Power, Rev. James 287-288

Preachers Paid in Produce 226

Presbyterian Church, Early History.. 287

Press of County, General History 395

Privations of Early Ministers 290

Proctor, John, 47; Commands Regi-
ment, 125; His Tent 289

Public Square in Old Towns 253-4

Puckety Creek Church, U. P 292

Purchase, From Indians, the New.... 39

Railroad, First in County 282

Railroads of County 279

Rangers, For Home Defense 87

Rattlesnake Flag, The 126

Redemptioners in County 53

Redstone Presbytery Formed 289

Reed, Rebecca, Flight and Escape of., no
Reformed Church, 299 ; Early Work,
300 ; Build Churches, etc., 301 ; Rev.

Dr. N. P. Hacke 302

Rehobeth Church 520

Removal of County Seat to Greens-
burg, Commission Appointed, 186;
Second Commission, Aspiring Towns,
Third Commission, 187; Report Se-
lecting Greensburg, 188 ; Authority of
Commission Suspended, 189; First

Court in Greensburg 190

Republican-Democrat 398

Resides. James 261

Revolution, Prominent Part Taken by
County, 122; Soldiers who Died in

County 157-169

Rifles at Church • 503

Right of Search 242

Roads Crossing the County 234

Roads, Early Petitions For. Our In-
debtedness to 231

Roberts, Family 297

Rod, the Use of in Schools 408

Romantic Days of Stage Coach Travel
259-64

P.\CE

Roosevelt, Theodore, on Animals At-
tacking Man 221

Ross Furnace 452

Rostra ver Township, 519; Early Tax-
ablels, Schools, Rehobeth Church... 520

St. Clair, Arthur, Urges Formation of
County, 43 ; His Part in Dunmore's
War, 63 ; Commands Regiment 127 ;
Takes Quebec, 133 ; Sketch of, 625 ;
Birth, Parentage, 625 ; With Wolf at
Quebec. Married in Boston, Appoint-
ed Justice, 626; Secures Erection of
County, Patriotic Correspondence,
627; Enters Revolution, is Sent to
New Jersey, is with Washington,
628; a Major-General, at Ticon-
deroga, Flees from Burgoyne's Army,
629 ; Reasons for Retreat, 630 ; Mem-
ber and President of Continental
Congress, Appointed Governor of
Ohio, Battle with Indians. 631 ; De-
feated, 632-3; His Defence; Wayne's
Victory. 634 ; Removed from the Gov-
ernorship, 63s; Builds Furnace,
449-451, Residence at Ligonier, 636;
Is Unfortunate in Business, 637;
Asks Government for Reimburse-
ment, is Refused, Sold Out by Sherifif
638; Claims Refused, His Use of Li-
quor, 639 ; Letter from Elisha Whit-
tlesey, 640; Moves to Log Cabin,

641; Death and Burial 642

St. Clair, Daniel I35

St. Clair, Township of 614

St. Xaviers Convent, 318, Description,

etc 319

Sala, George Augusta, Estimate of

Cowan 356

Salem, Township of, 561 : Early Set-
tlers, Recollections of Thomas Big-
ham, 562; Congruity Church. 565;
New Salem (Delmont) Borough of. 567
Salt, the Great Need of, 222 ; Its High
Price, the State and National Gov-
ernments assist in Its Production,
It is Carried on Pack Horses. 223;
Discovered Here, How manufactured 224
Scalp Bounty, 145-46; Brought Into

Disrepute I47

Scalp Bounty on Animals 221

Scalping Not Always Fatal 146

Schlatter, Charles L., Surveys Routes

for P. R. R 280

Schoep. Dr., Crosses State in Carriage 238
School Houses in Early Days. .504-9-10-11
School Law, 409; Opposition to, 410;
Law of 1854, 412; E.xhibitions, Spell-
ing Schools 413

School Statistics 424

Scotch-Irish in Cou"'y, 116; Their

Habits and Charar'.-r 117

Scottdale, Borough of 576

IXDEX

677

PAGE

Scroggs, Dr. Joseph 529

Second Pennsylvania Regiment 136

Settlers Unite to Harvest Crops 92

Sewickley, Township of, 599; Quaker

Church 600,

Shaw, Margaret, of Hannastown 180

Shockey, Christian, Chased by Wolves,

Purchases Almanacs 221

Slackwater, on Monongahela and Youg-

hiogheny Rivers 269-70

Sloan, Captain, Raid Among Indians.. 104
Smith. Captain James, His Narrative,
March Against Indians 86, 129,

Sketch of 143

Snyder, Simon, Governor 243

Southern Boundary of Penna., Prepara-
tions for Defense 435

South Huntingdon, Township of 568

Spaui-h .Xnurican War. Tenth and Six-
trcnili l\i-)ni nts, 473 ; Trip of Tenth
.\ir-" Liiitra States. 474: Battle of
M:ilate, 474; Regiments Recruited,
475 ; Si.xteenth Regiment Company

M 476

Spiegel. J. R 370

Spinning. Weaving 214-15

Sportsmans Hall : 312—13

Stage Coach on Turnpike. 259; Horses
used, Relay System 260 ; Continuous
Passage. Mail lines. 261 ; Fare from
Pittsburg to Philadelphia. 261 ; Fast
Driving. 262 ; Stage Drivers De-
scribed by Irving. 262; Driving Down
Mountains, 263; Drivers use of Whip. 263

State road 236-7

Steck. Rev. Jno. M 305

Steck, Rev. M. J 307

Steel, Durability of. Over Iron 456

Steel, Judge Jno. B., Story Told by

217, 327

Steel, Rev. John 287

Stevens, Thaddeus 419

Stewart. A. A 361

Stockades. Forts, Block-houses 81

Stokes. Wm. A 362

Sugar Making 215-16

Supreme Court Elected in 1851 347

Suter.Eli C 603

Suterville. Borough of 603

Swan, Rev. William 290

Tavern Licenses, Number Granted in

Early Days 230

Taverns 253

Taxation and Valuation of County.... 485
Taxes Remitted Because of Hard Times 157

Tea Party. Mrs. St. Clair ... 213

Teachers Qualifications in Early Days.

406; Text Books in Early Schools. 407-9
Tccumseh. Teaches English Soldiers

Ethics of Warfare 249

Toll-Gates, Number of Teams Passed. 257

Toll, rates of 240

"Tom the Tinker" 199

PACE

Tools, used by Pioneers 219

Tribune & Herald 399

Troops, First Called for in Civil War. 426

Turney, Jacob 368

Turnpike, 239, General Engineering of. 241

Twenty-eighth Regiment, Civil War. . . 430

Ulery Family, Chased by Indians, 94;
Escape of Abigail, an Indian Shot,
96; Capture of Sisters the day follow-
ing 97

Union Furnace 447

United Brethren 511

United Presbyterian Church. 290, Union
of, in 1858, 290; Organized at Mt.
Pleasant, Fairfield, Brush Creek, 293 ;
at Irwin. Stewarts, T^Iurrysville, Mon-
essen. West Newton, Scottdalc, 294;
at Latrobe, Bolivar, Jtannette,

Greensburg 295

Unity Presbyterian Church Organized. 289
Unity, Township of 554

Valuation, etc.. of County, Table 485

Vandergrift, Borough of 581

Vandergrift Heights. Borough of 583

Van Swearingen, Capt., Escapes Hang-
ing. Sketch 140.

Virginia Claims Western Pennsylvania 34

Wages Paid to Teachers 407

Waggoner. Captain, with Braddock. . . 8
Wagon Teams on Turnpike. 253 ; Wag-
oning and Wagons 254

Wakefield. Rev. Dr. Samuel 299

Wallace, John, Raid on Indians 104

Walpole, Horace, Ridicules Braddocks

March 5

Walthour, Joseph S., County Superin-
tendent of Schools 421

War of 1812, Its Causes, 242 ; Compan-
ies from County. 244 : Battle of Mis-
sissinwa. 246; List of Soldiers. . .247, 248
Washington Furnace, Description of. . 453
Washington. George, First Trip West,
I : Recommends the Building of Fort
at Fork of Ohio, Second Trip. Fort
Necessity. 4; in Braddocks Army,
taken Sick, Left at Dunbars Camp,
6; His Opinion of Braddock, 8-9;
in Forbes Army, 13 ; Escapes Great
Danger at Ligonier, 18; His Marriage
a Result of the Campaign. 23 : Owned
Slaves in County: Letter, etc.. 57;
His Opinion of Coal. 459; in Whisky

Insurrection 194-207

Washington. Township it. Early Set-
tlers. 551 ; Early Churches' and

Preachers 552

Weber. Rev. John William 302, 503

Webster, Borough of 522

Webster. Daniel, Refers to Log Cabin. . 212
Wells. Benjamin, Collector of Excise
Tax 197-198

678

IXDEX

Wentling. Mrs. Nancy Jack 326

Westmoreland County Formed, 43 ;

Original Extent 44

Westmoreland Intelligencer 399

Westmoreland in the Revolution 132

Westmoreland Iron Furnace 449

West Newton. BorougH of S69-71

Whipping-post 51

Whiskey Insurrection, 194; Excise Tax,
194-S ; Causes which Led up to It,
195 ; Collector Assaulted in Greens-
burg, 195 ; Treatment Elsewhere,
ig6; the General Uprising, 199; Fight
at General Nevill's House, 200; Meet-
ing at Parkinson's Ferry, 201 ; Troops
Called Out by Washington, 202 ; Re-
solution Adopted in Greensburg, 205 ;
Army Came West, Arrests Made,
206; David Bradford Flees, Final
Settlement, 207; Washington's Strong

Arm 207

Whisky, Its Early Manufacture and
General Use, 228; Rev. Beatty Dis-
penses it at Prayers, 229; Used at

P.^GE

Celebrations, Purchase by Govern-
ment, 229; is a Measure of Value. . . . 230

White, Judge Thomas 331

Wild Animals in County, 217-18;
Wolves. Description of, 220; Inhabit

Mountains, 221 ; Bounty on 222

Wild Game in Early Days, 221 ; One

Day's -Hunt 218

Willard, Captain and Daughter, Mur-
dered 102

Willis, N. P., Reference to Cowan.... 355

Wilson, George 141

Wimmer, Rt. Rev. Boniface, 314;
Sketch of Life, Labors in America,

Letter from King Louis 1 316

Wn-sing, Capt. J. J., in Civil War. . . .434-5
Women, First Employed as Teachers.. 412

Woolen Factories 214

Wynal, Rev 308

Young, Judge John 328

Youngstown, Borough of 555

Young, Wm. H 365

9707

HfCKMAN

-rrmTy. inc.

MAY 02

I N.MANCHESTER, INDIANA 469€2J